“The Red Road,” a new series premiering on the Sundance Channel February 27, exists in a violent divide. On the borderline of New York and New Jersey, trees loom large over the winding roads skirting through the Appalachian Mountains and bad blood lingers between the white population and the local Lenape Indian tribe. On a dark night up in the hills, a hit-and-run sends a small Lenape boy to the hospital, igniting long simmering tensions between the two groups. The moment pushes two men together — one a Lenape criminal, the other a white cop — who both have their own reasons to share secrets in an effort to cover up a murder.
Created by screenwriter Aaron Guzikowski, “The Red Road” feels similar in tone to “Top of the Lake,” Jane Campion’s award-winning series that aired on the Sundance Channel in 2013. Like that show, which traded the histrionics of “The Killing” and absurd pulpiness of Cinemax’s “Banshee” for quiet intensity, “The Red Road” creeps up on you quietly instead of grabbing you by the lapels.
The first episode, directed by James Grey (“Two Lovers,” “The Immigrant”), sets the tone for the show beautifully. The choice of Grey to direct the pilot says something about what this show is not trying to be. Grey is a filmmaker who is interested in naturalism and stillness, and his attention to sense of place — here a very specific small town — is the perfect way to set the show in motion.
As Philip, the Lenape ex-con, Jason Momoa (“Game of Thrones”) is a terrifying presence, his physical bulk felt in every scene he’s in — people back up when he’s in the room. As Harold, Martin Henderson is shaky and confused, pushed into a corner and in over his head.
There is a relationship between two teenagers, one a Lenape foster kid and the other the daughter of Harold and his wife, played by Julianne Nicholson, which feels more like a narrative tool and, hopefully, won’t weigh down would could be a tense thriller with paeans to young love. The only other flat note in the first two episodes is the quickly descending mental health of Harold’s wife, which seems a little cartoonish.
But over six episodes, it’s hard to imagine that “The Red Road” will fizzle out. Along with the more sweaty and brooding “Rectify,” the Sundance Channel is quickly building something that is tonally in opposition to what is happening all over cable. There’s little concern for water cooler moments or appeals to cultivate the shock of the new. Almost classical in its pace and structure, “The Red Road” is concerned with quality, which is displayed over its first two episodes flawlessly.
