Benedict Cumberbatch’s Grieving Puppeteer Searches for Missing Son in Eric Trailer — Watch

What if Jim Henson used Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster to find his missing son? That’s essentially the premise of the upcoming Netflix series Eric, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and set for release on Thursday, May 30.

A new trailer, which you can watch above, previews a desperate father’s efforts to find his nine-year-old child, who disappeared one morning on the way to school.

Set in 1980s New York, the story follows Vincent (Cumberbatch), one of the city’s leading puppeteers and the creator of the wildly popular children’s show Good Day Sunshine. Across six episodes, Vincent struggles to cope with the loss his son Edgar, becoming increasingly distressed and volatile.

“Full of self-loathing and guilt around Edgar’s disappearance,” according to the official synopsis, he clings to his son’s drawings of a blue monster puppet named Eric — convinced that if he can get Eric on TV, then Edgar will come home.

“As Vincent’s progressively destructive behavior alienates his family, his work colleagues, and the detectives trying to help him,” the description continues, “it’s Eric, a delusion of necessity, who becomes his only ally in the pursuit to bring his son home.”

Gaby Hoffmann (Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty), McKinley Belcher III (Ozark), Dan Fogler (The Walking Dead) and Clarke Peters (The Wire) complete the cast.

The series comes from writer-producer Abi Morgan (Suffragette, The Iron Lady), who executive-produces alongside Cumberbatch, Jane Featherstone, Lucy Dyke and Lucy Forbes, who also directs.