The Kafka-esque tale of espionage that is Patriot remains as one of the more unique series in recent memory. Methodical in its pacing, but twisting and turning at every turn, the sheer absurdity of Steven Conrad’s creation sticks with us to this day.

With that said, he might have just made something even stranger, which is kind of a tall order, with his latest series, Ultra City Smiths. Conrad has woven a noir-ish tale of intrigue that will drive a detective to his limits and past them. Oh, he’s exclusively using refashioned baby dolls and stop motion animation to realize this vision.

It’s wonderfully ridiculous from what we saw in the trailer.

Honestly, we’re still trying to process the possibilities of such a mash-up of stylistic and genre elements, again leaning into somewhat absurdist territory, and how Conrad might have just topped himself. See all of this for yourself here.

If you’re digging it, you can catch Ultra City Smiths on AMC’s streaming platform AMC+ (you didn’t think that there were going to be no more new streaming services, did you?) starting Jul. 22nd.