We’re in the middle of an absolute wave of comfortably cozy murder mysteries on our screens right now. There’s been Only Murders in the Building, Kenneth Branagh’s Hercule Poirot films, pretty much everything Rian Johnson’s done for the past few years, and now this High Desert, which is now streaming on Apple TV+.
Our heroine is Peggy, played by the great Patricia Arquette, a recovering junkie who decides to embark upon a career as a private investigator after her beloved mother passes away and her siblings decide to sell the family home. Teaming up with down-on-his-luck detective Bruce (Brad Garrett), she soon finds herself investigating the activities of former local weatherman Guru Bob (Rupert Friend), now a wannabe cult leader following a personal trauma. Throw in a missing woman and missing Picasso, and the game is afoot.
The eight episode series treats genre boundaries as mere suggestions, ambling through noir, comedy, western, and slice-of-life oddball drama at whim. Created by Nancy Fichman, Katie Ford, and Jennifer Hoppe-House, High Desert was originally set to be directed by Ben Stiller, who recently worked with Arquette on the acclaimed workplace sci-fi drama Severance. Stiller stepped away, and High Desert now comes to us courtesy of Austin Powers and Trumbo director Jay Roach, who directed Stiller in the Meet the Parents flicks—Hollywood is very much a business of relationships, it seems.
The stacked cast is rounded out with Christine Taylor as Peggy’s sister/nemesis, Dianne, Matt Dillon as her charming, drug-dealing ex-husband, Denny, and Weruche Opia as her BFF, Carol. But Patricia Arquette is the absolute star here, sinking her teeth into a complex and contradictory character with glee. While her turn in High Desert may not be as instantly iconic as, say, Natascha Lyonne’s in Poker Face, it’s certainly in the same ballpark. If that sounds like your jam, make tracks for High Desert.
