Review of The Crowded Room, the Apple TV+ thriller produced by and starring Tom Holland in which Akiva Goldsman acts as showrunner. Released this June 9.
Tom Holland he has left his skin in The Crowded Room, that is something that is obvious when you take a look at this series in the key of a thriller of which Apple TV + has released its first three episodes, lasting approximately one hour.
The rest will be rationed at the rate of one per week until the broadcast is completed on July 28 (there are ten in total).
But not only because he plays a very complicated main role and because he is on screen practically at all times, which is enough if we look at the emotional wells into which he has to descend, but because his hard work in front of the camera has been added to the as a producer, which entails another series of more pragmatic but equally relevant responsibilities.
As a result, exhausted, Holland has announced that he is going to take a sabbatical to regain his strength. Rest is well deserved.
the abyss of madness
The series, as we said, revolves around Danny Sullivan, a boy with difficulties to relate but with exceptional artistic qualities. After an altercation in New York, he is arrested and brought before Rya Goodwin, a perceptive and patient interrogator who interviews him to try to understand some mysterious aspects of Danny’s past.
It will be through these interactions that he goes through a true personal epiphany that will lead him to rewrite some of the passages of his life that he remembered in a very different way.
Little more can be said about The Crowded Room without destroying the viewing experience, although it should also be noted, almost as a public service, that the big twist in the script is revealed in the middle of the season and you have to be quite patient (and naive) to get to that moment without getting desperate or getting ahead of yourself. to the plot
BEWARE, FROM HERE YOU WILL FIND SPOILERS ABOUT THE THEME THAT THE SERIES DEVELOPES THE CROWDED ROOM!
Akiva Goldsman He works as showrunner and executive producer through the company Weed Road Productions, although he has only written three episodes, the rest is the work of an ensemble team that has been inspired by the book by David Keyes entitled “The Minds of Billy Milligan” and written in the key of a testimony novel or metafictional story.
Pointing out this simple fact is a spoiler because the protagonist’s name has been deliberately changed to hide the fact that he is a transcript of the so-called “campus rapist”, the first individual who, in fact, was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder (now called of dissociative identity) by psychologist Stella Karolin and doctor Dorothy Turner used in her defense.
The story has been in development several times in different studios with directors such as James Cameron, David Fincher or Joel Schumacher attached at some point and first-rate performers interested in the main role: Matthew McConaughey, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, John Cusack and even Leonardo DiCaprio.
For those who want to dig deeper into this story, there is a four-episode true crime documentary on Netflix entitled Monsters Inside: The 24 Faces of Billy Milligan that is most chilling and enlightening.
END OF SPOILERS.
It is difficult to determine if Tom Holland is the ideal signing to give life to the protagonist of this story and not because of a lack of commitment to the character or a lack of talent: in addition to seeing him giving life to the talkative Peter Parker in a good number of productions, Lucid in dramas like El diablo a todas horas or Cherry demonstrating enormous potential.
This series somehow confirms his maturity as an interpreter: He does not want to only play roles in outstanding action films of the Uncharted type, although it is also true that it is a role that could have suited an actor with more tables to address certain moments from a greater containment. One of those interpreters who speak with their eyes, who communicate until they cross the screen.
It is clear that he has worked a lot but also that he has had to make an effort to get there. You can’t stop seeing Tom Holland, no matter how hard he tries to fade away to let such a complicated being emerge.
For the rest, he is surrounded by great talents such as Amanda Seyfried, Emmy Rossum, Sasha Lane or Will Chase, as well as having the special participation of Jason Isaacs, Christopher Abbott, Thomas Sadoski and Zachary Golinger.
As usual in the products offered Apple TV+the intrinsic quality of the production is more than remarkable and knows how to get the most out of the character’s artistic vein with some shots that are true visual finds and excellent metaphors for the inner turbulence of an unpredictable and fragmented subject.
In sum, The Crowded Room It deserves a viewing that, surely, will be enjoyed more the less information you have about the series, although you don’t have to be Colombo to realize what’s going on simply by analyzing the, on the other hand, excellent opening credits .
VALUATION:
The Crowded Room deals with an exciting subject in a very unexciting way, aiming to surprise the viewer mid-season with a twist that is coming, whether or not the story of the actual character on which it is based is known. All in all, the delivered interpretation of Tom Holland and the careful production enters through the eyes.
THE BEST:
The artistic opening credits, the delivery of Tom Holland to interpret such a complex character and the staging.
WORST:
The story is very long and tries to hide its main asset for too long.
