Benedict Cumberbatch has a new mystery on his hands. 

The Oscar nominee is set to star in the upcoming six-episode limited series Eric, coming May 30, and you can watch the trailer above now. Created by BAFTA and Emmy Award winner Abi Morgan (The Hour, The Iron Lady, The Split), the thriller follows a desperate father as he battles his demons on the vibrant, dangerous, and intoxicating streets of ’80s New York in a race to bring home his missing son.

What is Eric about?

Vincent (Cumberbatch) is one of New York’s leading puppeteers and creator of the hugely popular children’s television show Good Day Sunshine. But his life unravels when his 9-year-old son goes missing on the way to school. “Eric is a dark and crazy journey into the heart of ’80s New York — and the good, bad, and ugly world of Vincent,” Morgan told Netflix. 

Struggling to cope with the loss of his son, Edgar, Vincent becomes increasingly distressed and volatile. Full of self-loathing and guilt over Edgar’s disappearance, he clings to his son’s drawings of a blue monster puppet, 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, it’s Eric, a delusion of necessity, who becomes his only ally in the pursuit to bring his son home.

“When I pitched the idea of a New York puppeteer on a quest to find his missing son, with a 7-foot-tall blue monster in tow, it’s to Netflix's eternal credit that they jumped on board,” Morgan tells Tudum. “Eric is a deep dive into the ’80s Big Apple, grappling with rising crime rates, internal corruption, endemic racism, a forgotten underclass, and the AIDS epidemic, exposing the divisions rife between parents searching for their child, a detective battling with a system that is broken, and a lost boy who may never come home, and asks where the real monsters lie. With puppets … lots of puppets.”

Who is in the Eric cast?

Alongside Cumberbatch, the series also stars Gaby Hoffmann as Cassie, McKinley Belcher III as lead detective Ledroit, and Ivan Howe as Edgar.

Can I watch the Eric trailer?

Yes, you can check out Cumberbatch, Hoffmann, and Belcher III in action above. Set to a sinister version of ABBA’s “S.O.S.,” Cumberbatch and Hoffmann play parents in a desperate search to find their missing child. As Cumberbatch’s Vincent is a puppeteer in a children’s show, he thinks that creating a puppet inspired by his son’s drawings will be a beacon guiding him back to where he belongs. “If I can get him on the show, then Edgar will see him,” he says in the trailer. “He’ll know how much we want him to come home.” Join detective Ledroit’s team in the search for Edgar and “let’s go find that f***ing kid!”

Can I see some photos of the cast and the character Eric?

Absolutely. Click through the gallery above.

Who is the creative team behind Eric?

Lucy Forbes (This Is Going To Hurt, The End of the F***ing World) directs the series. Morgan, Cumberbatch, and Forbes executive produce alongside Jane Featherstone (Chernobyl, This Is Going to Hurt) and Lucy Dyke (The Split, Black Mirror), with Holly Pullinger (This Is Going to Hurt, Don’t Forget the Driver) producing. Eric is produced by Sister (Chernobyl, This Is Going to Hurt, Landscapers) and co-produced by Little Chick (The Split). 

“When Abi first pitched Eric to us, it gave us goose bumps,” said Featherstone and Dyke. “It’s an extraordinary piece of writing, inspired by Abi’s experience of New York in the mid-’80s, a city rotten to its core but on the cusp of change.”

What is the Eric release date?

Ready to see who’s really pulling the puppet strings? Eric premieres on May 30, only on Netflix.