Finally: the mystery is solved. For months now, UK-based fans of intelligent, inventive murder-mysteries have been left looking for clues around when Poker Face would be hitting our screens. Because, as if dropping Glass Onion at Christmas wasn’t enough, the ever-excellent Rian Johnson shortly after debuted a new detective – Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie Cale – in a streaming series on Peacock, in a ten-part case-of-the-week show that drew rave reviews. For a long time, there was no sign of it reaching our shores. Now, the wait is over at last. Poker Face is making its way to the UK, and it’s hitting Sky Max (and NOW) on 26 May.
All ten episodes of the show will be dropping at once – boasting episodes directed by Zola’s Janicza Bravo, Natasha Lyonne, and Johnson himself. Lyonne also wrote on the show, while Johnson penned three episodes. And it’s packed with guest stars too, including Johnson lucky charm Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Adrien Brody, Hong Chau, Lil Real Howery, Jameela Jamil, Tim Blake Nelson, Nick Nolte and Ron Perlman. We really have been missing out, haven’t we? In the show, Lyonne’s detective has a knack for knowing exactly when people are lying – and, taking inspiration from Columbo, the stories inside aren’t actually whodunnits, but explorations of how Charlie gets to the truth, and character studies about who’s lying, what about, and why.
There are plenty more mysteries to come – not only has a second season of Poker Face been confirmed back in February, but Johnson is also due to make a third Knives Out mystery with Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc for Netflix. Plus, there’s the small matter of his long-mooted Star Wars films to come. We can’t wait for all of it – and that’s the stone-cold truth.