The Consultant Trailer: A Ruthless Christoph Waltz Sniffs Video Game Company Employees

If 2022 and the preceding years haven't been dystopian enough for you, Prime Video has just the thing to fill you with dread. Today, the streaming service released a new teaser trailer for "The Consultant," a series based on the 2015 novel of the same name by Bentley Little. The show was created by Tony Basgallop ("Servant," "What Remains") and directed by Matt Shakman ("WandaVision," "Game of Thrones"). 

In the teaser, we meet the very creepy Mr. Patoff, played by Christoph Waltz ("Inglorious Basterds"), who has been hired as a consultant when a gaming company called CompWare begins to decline. He's an interesting guy — very meticulous, clipping his nose hairs in the office (please, do not do that) and generally freaking everyone out. The company employees begin to suspect that he's more sinister than even that nose hair thing makes him seem. In fact, stray nose hairs are the least of these people's worries.

If watching Waltz in the famous Der Humpink video or his performance in "Inglorious Basterds" hasn't made you fear him, perhaps that video just did. While this isn't a series I would typically gravitate to, I have to say that I'm intrigued by some of the imagery. I'm not sure I want to know why Mr. Patoff sniffs people, but watching that ring melt into the molten metal was certainly a startling image. Then there is the weird pile of pencil shavings and what appears to be a Greek sesame ring called a koulouri, which has been around in some form in the Mediterranean world since the 16th century. Its inclusion in the teaser has to mean something, and now I have to know what. 

Upsetting as this all is, the teaser does give us a hint of the dark comedy aspect. With a director like Shakman on board, we can expect a good mix of humor and drama. He's as much of a draw for me as the teaser itself. 

Here is the official synopsis for the series:

When a new consultant, Regus Patoff (Christoph Waltz), is hired to improve the business at the App-based gaming company CompWare, employees experience new demands and challenges that put everything into question ... including their lives.

Also starring are Natt Wolff ("The Fault in Our Stars," "Death Note") as Craig, Brittany O'Grady ("Black Christmas," "The White Lotus") as Elaine, and Aimee Carrero ("Elena of Avalor," "She-Ra and the Princesses of Power") as Patti. Basgallop will serve as showrunner and executive producer. Shakman will also executive produce and direct the pilot. Other executive producers include Waltz, Steve Stark, and Andrew Mittman, with producer Kai Dolbashian. 

All eight episodes of "The Consultant" will premiere on Prime Video on February 24, 2023.