Last Seen review: Apple TV+’s gripping thriller deserves far more attention

Patrick Brammall is known for his comic performances in Colin From Accounts. In Last Seen, however, he takes on a very different role, playing a grieving father whose life has been frozen by the disappearance of his young daughter 11 years earlier.

The six-part Australian thriller premiered on Apple TV+ on September 9, 2026, and early reviews have highlighted its performances, atmosphere and character-driven approach.

At first glance, Last Seen might look like another familiar missing-child crime drama. That was certainly my first impression. I expected a fairly conventional emergency-services thriller, built around a mystery I had seen variations of many times before.

Instead, the series quickly proved much more absorbing than expected.

Had I stopped watching after the first few minutes, I would have missed one of the most compelling thrillers I’ve seen this year.

Patrick Brammall leaves comedy behind

Brammall plays Ian Ridley, a former police detective who now works as an emergency dispatcher. Eleven years earlier, his young daughter Maggie disappeared without a trace, leaving his family devastated.

Ian has never accepted that Maggie is gone. The loss has consumed his life, while his attempts to cope have led him toward alcohol. He is essentially trapped in the moment when his daughter disappeared, unable to move forward while still clinging to the possibility that she might somehow be alive.

That emotional damage gives the thriller considerably more weight than its basic premise might suggest.

The story begins to move in an unexpected direction when human remains are discovered in woodland near Ian’s home. The discovery opens the door to questions about Maggie’s disappearance and gives Ian another reason to pursue answers he has spent years desperately seeking.

Then comes the phone call that changes everything.

While working as a dispatcher, Ian receives a distress call from a teenage girl. He becomes convinced that the voice on the other end belongs to Maggie.

From that point, his determination to find her takes over.

A mystery that is better left unspoiled

There are plenty of reasons to recommend Last Seen, but discussing the biggest ones in detail would undermine what makes the series so effective.

The show is built around uncertainty. As the story develops, new information changes the way you look at the characters and the events surrounding Maggie’s disappearance. The pleasure comes from trying to work out what is really happening without knowing which apparent answers can be trusted.

Patrick Brammall is particularly effective at the centre of that story. His performance gives Ian a vulnerability that makes his increasingly desperate actions understandable, even when his choices become difficult to defend.

The supporting cast also gives the drama considerably more depth. Maxine Peake, Brendan Cowell and Daniel Henshall are among the performers who help turn the mystery into a story about damaged people dealing with grief, guilt and secrets.

That is ultimately what makes Last Seen work so well.

The characters are as important as the mystery

The central mystery is strong enough to keep the episodes moving, but the series doesn’t rely entirely on twists.

Its greatest strength is the attention given to the people caught inside the story. Ian’s grief feels deeply personal, while the other characters are given their own emotional complications rather than existing simply to deliver clues.

That approach has also been noted by critics. RogerEbert.com’s review praised the series for grounding its thriller elements in the characters’ trauma rather than making every episode dependent on increasingly elaborate twists.

The Australian setting adds another distinctive element. The series is set and filmed in Victoria, Australia, making it Apple TV’s first series made entirely in Australia. Its fictional coastal setting gives the story an atmosphere that separates it from the more familiar American and British missing-person dramas.

Is it completely flawless?

Probably not.

As the story progresses, some of its developments can feel increasingly heightened. There are moments when the plot stretches credibility, particularly if you’re approaching it purely as a tightly constructed crime mystery.

But the emotional investment makes those imperfections easier to overlook.

For me, the closest comparison is Broadchurch, the acclaimed BBC crime drama. Like that series, Last Seen understands that a missing-person mystery becomes much more affecting when the people at its centre feel fully developed and emotionally believable.

The result is a thriller that can be tense and unpredictable while still giving its characters room to breathe.

Why Last Seen deserves more attention

Apple TV+ has developed a reputation for producing acclaimed dramas that don’t always generate the same level of conversation as shows on larger streaming platforms.

Last Seen could easily become another example.

The series premiered with two episodes on September 9, followed by a new episode each Wednesday through October 7, 2026.

Early critical reaction has been positive, with Rotten Tomatoes currently listing an 89% Tomatometer score from 18 reviews.

That doesn’t mean Last Seen will work for everyone. Its mystery unfolds with more patience than some modern thrillers, and viewers looking for constant twists may find its character-focused approach slower than expected.

For anyone willing to settle into the story, though, there is plenty to discover.

I went into Last Seen expecting a familiar emergency-services drama and ended up watching it in two breathless sittings, followed by considerably less sleep than planned.

The twists are part of the appeal, but the real reason the series stays with you is Ian Ridley and the people surrounding him. This is a story about a father who has spent 11 years refusing to give up on his missing daughter, and the devastating consequences of what happens when he finally gets a reason to believe she may still be alive.

That makes Last Seen a thriller worth putting on your watchlist before the conversation moves on to the next big streaming mystery.