Full Circle Trailer: Steven Soderbergh Returns With A Star-Studded Crime Mystery Series For Max

Everything's on fire in the streaming sphere right now (and the rest of the world too, for that matter), but at least Steven Soderbergh is staying productive. The multi-hyphenate has worked almost exclusively on streaming projects since 2019, casually knocking out sophisticated and adult-geared originals like "High Flying Bird" and "Kimi" in between the occasional misfire (sorry "The Laundromat"). Then again, when you're as skilled as Soderbergh and move as rapidly as he does, you quickly stack up more wins than losses.

His latest offering, a limited series titled "Full Circle," looks as fascinating as anything else Soderbergh has conjured up since his (very) short-lived retirement from filmmaking 10 years ago. As the official synopsis describes it, the six-episode Max show "tells the story of an investigation into a botched kidnapping that uncovers long-held secrets connecting multiple characters and cultures in present-day New York City." Thankfully, the newly-released trailer avoids spoiling any of the twists and turns that transpire on the way to the series' denouement, with characters spouting vague, context-free lines like "They're all hiding s***" and "No one knows the big picture, but you will." Not that spoilers are a deal-breaker for me personally, but knowing Soderbergh is calling the shots is really all the information that I needed. Consider my curiosity piqued.

Zazie Beetz, who previously collaborated with Steven Soderbergh on "High Flying Bird," and Claire Danes lead a star-studded cast for "Full Circle," with Timothy Olyphant joining them as one of the leads. Among those rounding out the ensemble are Jim Gaffigan, Jharrel Jerome, and CCH Pounder, along with Phaldut Sharma, Adia, Sheyi Cole, Gerald Jones, Suzanne Savoy, Ethan Stoddard, Lucian Zanes, and Dennis Quaid.

Soderbergh directed all six episodes of "Full Circle" from what began as a 550-page spec script by "Bill & Ted" and "Men in Black" co-writer Ed Solomon. The pair have previously collaborated as a director and writer on HBO's murder mystery series "Mosaic" and the crime caper movie "No Sudden Move," with Soderbergh having also served as an executive producer on "Bill & Ted Face the Music" (which Solomon co-wrote, natch). "Even by Ed's standards this is a complex narrative that manages to be both kaleidoscopic and intimate," teased Soderbergh back when the project was ordered to series.

Honestly, at a time when original genre stories, especially those intended for adults, are increasingly difficult to come by in theaters, it's comforting to know artists like Soderbergh and Solomon are committed to delivering more of both on the small screen (and often pretty great ones, too). You can check out "Full Circle" when the first two episodes hit Max on July 13, 2023, with two episodes dropping weekly thereafter on the way to the finale on July 27.