Ivan Radford | On 23, Feb 2025

The President of the United States is dead. That’s the starting point for Paradise, Disney+’s new political thriller. His head of security, Secret Service agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K Brown), discovers the body – and swiftly realises that he’s the only one who can solve the murder. So far, so familiar. But what begins as a conventional story on the surface soon digs into unexpected depths.

We begin following Xavier on the job, as he juggles raising his kids – Presley (Aliyah Mastin), named after Elvis, and James (Percy Daggs IV) – with taking on the task of guarding President Cal Bradford (James Marsden). His first meeting with his boss has all the spark of an odd-couple meet-cute, but by the time we catch up with him in the present day, Xavier a notably detached and brusque figure. The more time we spend with him, however, the more we begin to realise that he has a reason for his behaviour – and that tragic revelation is the start of Paradise’s intriguing success.

From the off the series has a lot of a fun with flashbacks, and creator Dan Fogleman – known for This Is Us – continues his knack for engagingly earnest storytelling, while using that emotional weight to steer us through a deceptively twisting and surprising plot. Fogleman ensures that Cal is a wonderfully flawed person, as selfish and morally dubious as he is tragically saddled with a bad hand of cards. James Marsden sinks his teeth into what could have been a thankless role with his usual humour and charm, laced with a touch of cool cynicism – he’s one of the best actors working today when it comes to dismantling and undermining traditional notions of masculinity.

Sterling K Brown, meanwhile, is superb as the resilient and stoic Xavier, as brooding and lonely as he is quietly vulnerable – a growing friendship with Dr Torabi (the excellent Sarah Shahi) sees him thaw with convincing, understated sweetness. A subplot that explores his relationship with his father (Glenn Turman), a pilot with Parkinson’s, is heartwarming in a way that catches you entirely off-guard. Brown’s determination to do the right thing, a trait that we know Cal valued, grounds the entire show, even as we question whether he’s making the correct decisions. That moral consistency also reinforces the significance of their uneasy alliance long after Cal has been assassinated.

Surrounding our lead duo is an ensemble of enjoyably enigmatic players, from Samantha Redmond (a steely Julianne NIcholson) – one of the world’s richest women – to Billy Pace (Jon Beavers), Xavier’s gruff colleague with a violent streak and chequered past. They are all connected by a top secret project involving a subterrean refuge designed to protect humanity from an extinction-level event that’s predicted by scientists to happen in the near future.

The result is a thriller that blends political espionage and a locked room mystery with a sprinkling of sci-fi. You won’t know where this strange sea of ideas and genres is going – but it’s a fishbowl you’ll enjoy gazing into for hours.

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