The Crowded Room Early Review

The Crowded Room is a limited series inspired by the 1981 non-fiction novel The Minds of Billy Milligan and stars Tom Holland and Amanda Seyfried. It follows Danny Sullivan (Holland), a man who is arrested for his involvement in a shooting in New York City in 1979. Through a series of interviews with his curious and sympathetic interrogator Rya Goodwin (Seyfried), Danny’s life story unfolds and reveals elements of the mysterious past that shaped him and what led to this fateful incident. The series was absolutely loaded with potential and features plenty of talent both behind and in front of the camera, amounting to what looked to be one of the best limited series of the year. In reality, it is a complete mess and a mixed bag tonally but in spite of its issues it still has many redeeming qualities that keep it from fully sinking and fairly watchable throughout.

The biggest point of contention with The Crowded Room is its method of storytelling throughout the series which is hard to discuss without giving anything away. Inspired by a true story, it will certainly not be a real mystery to those familiar with the story and the details surrounding it and doesn’t really lend itself to being one. Nevertheless, this series heavily presents itself as if it was one. However, it fails at keeping viewers guessing or invested in whatever was happening on screen in any given scene because it is so painfully predictable even to those unaware of the real-life events that were slightly changed here. It’s hard to fathom why the team behind the series decided to tell this story in the frustratingly bizarre fashion they did because had it been presented in a more straightforward way, it would have made it a lot more compelling and would have done better justice to its real-life source material. Its unorthodox storytelling was an odd choice that it never quite recovers from as it reaches the end with twists and turns that are either predictable or highly underwhelming.

A big complaint with a lot of limited series as of late is that many feel drawn out as their subject matter are arguably often better suited for feature films rather than an 8-hour plus series. While The Crowded Room isn’t the worst example of this, it is very much a part of that group. Though it is mostly engaging throughout and never boring, there is absolutely no reason for it to be as long as it was. Starting to drag especially in the back half, this hurt the pacing of some of those latter episodes. While a film may be too short to fully capture everything this story has to offer, this series definitely did not need nearly as many episodes as it had especially with most of them running at near the 1-hour mark. Featuring a lot of different characters and moving parts that are essentially necessary to the story, they make the series feel messy and unfocused as a whole.

While a disappointment overall, The Crowded Room has quite a few redeeming qualities that save it from being a complete disaster. The biggest strength of the series is its cast who all turn in strong performances. Holland gives one of his better performances to date as Danny Sullivan and shows the kind range as an actor that most audiences haven’t seen him show before. Though he could have easily overdone it, he finds a perfect balance between both extremes of the character. Holland keeps choosing fascinating projects where he gets to showcase his skills as an actor, but he just hasn’t picked the right project yet. Seyfried is also terrific here as Rya Goodwin. The scenes she shares with Holland where they are merely just conversing are amongst the best in the series. The two work well together and their relationship is the easiest thing to get invested in throughout the series. Meanwhile, the supporting cast are solid as well. The standout is easily Emmy Rossum, as Danny’s mother Candy, who conveys so much emotion from her facial expressions alone. The series has a lot to say about mental health and while that message gets somewhat muddled along the way, it truly hits home in the end and above all else, is an important topic to present on screen.

Ultimately, The Crowded Room had the potential to be something truly special but unfortunately its execution and presentation prevent it from ever being anything more than just fine. It’s watchable and will likely find a solid fanbase once it hits Apple TV+ next week, especially for big fans of Holland or crime thrillers, but one can’t help but be a bit disappointed by it when all the right ingredients in front of and behind the camera were all there. That being said, there are far worse things out there. However, it is a shame that the final product ended up being as forgettable and mediocre as it was.

still courtesy of Apple

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/