‘The Patient’ review: Steve Carell, Domhnall Gleeson star in deeply poignant story about family in serial killer drama

Serial killers have been dominating the conversation in the entertainment sector in recent times, and with dahmer, We are forced to reflect on how far the depiction has gone to glorify a murderer and sensationalize his victims. Joe Weisberg’s Patient makes his place in this conversation with a compulsive killer who wants to be better; Who does not become a caricature of his actions.

In fact, he is so dedicated to preventing himself from being killed that Sam (Domhnall Gleeson) consults his physician, Dr. Alan Strauss (Steve Carell) and chained to his basement for some twisted version of on-call therapy. While Sam seeks to free himself from the compulsion, Alan warns him that, “successful therapy requires a safe environment.” Instead, what Alan is being asked to do is like collecting a deck of cards at gunpoint, except the gun is pointing at Sam’s next victim.

In terms of giving us a fictional true crime thriller, this is what the show is about. Weisberg, who co-wrote it with Joel Fields, doesn’t put much energy or time into delivering a terrifying experience, and eagerly turns his lens to filming a more emotional drama.

With Alan chained to the floor in Sam’s basement, the show fills the vacuum of an action-focused escape drama with a dialogue-heavy script where every conversation has the potential to change Alan’s fate. An adamant Sam accepts the difficult situation, but insists that Alan pull the killer out of him, leaving the Doctor with only one from captivity.

Carell expertly portrays a troubled and cornered man who is forced to carry out his professional duties; He lowers his voice, stabilizes his tone, and relaxes his posture as he makes little progress with Sam in every episode.

Meanwhile, Gleason’s Sam is a memorable character in his own right. For a murderer who lives in his mother’s basement, the story was begging for clichés to dominate the story. However, the authors take care not to lean too far into the desperate humanization of a murderer that erases the gravity of his crimes. Instead, Sam is presented with a lack of clarity. For at least three episodes, Allen and the audience fail to determine how much to fear this self-proclaimed killer.

A food inspector in his day job, Sam isn’t some expert-written smug killer, and spends his time on online forums discussing Kenny Chesney songs. The humanization isn’t terrifying or obvious, but there is an inherent part of Sam, which is badly interrupted when his first murder is shown on camera. with rare violent scenes, Patient What makes it stand out as a jarring aversion to the mundane pace created by ongoing therapy sessions.

As a captive in his old age, Alan’s arc is not one that involves him cleverly escaping the dungeon. Chained to the floor, he hopes that his time spent giving therapy sessions to Sam may add to his letting go, but he makes a feeble effort toward informing the outside world about his condition. . When he’s doing neither, Alan’s mind races around as he recounts the horrific relationship he shares with his recently deceased wife Beth (Laura Niamey) and his Orthodox Jewish son Ezra (Andrew Leeds). Is.

Weisberg and Fields have dedicated their efforts towards creating a show rich not only in family complexities, but also a show that sits with tough questions of faith. Alan’s conversation with himself is shown as a session he is having with his deceased therapist Charlie (David Alan Grier). In a highly stylized room, not far from the basement where he is physically, Alan contemplates his long-standing feud with Ezra who turned to following the Orthodox path of Judaism. Alan reveals his faith as his nightmares in the dungeon are filled with doomsday visions.

“We are all part of family systems,” Alan tells Sam during one of their sessions. It also becomes the motto that drives the final dynamic that settles between the two. As Charlie, who actually stands for confirmation of Alan’s ideas and confronts his deepest fears, suggests toward the end, Sam may have cast Alan as a replacement father.

Through sharp writing and a script that doesn’t give into the conventions of a serial killer or victims who want to avoid him, Weisberg and Fields maintain watchability in a show based less on murders and less on the parents of their sons. depends more on.

Unfortunately, this is also where the show shoots itself in the foot. The finale, which the actors themselves haven’t described as “the end of Hollywood,” leaves you more uncomfortable than it was when you first started watching. The final episode, which has already pitched the opposing camp for a show that was universally praised throughout its run, flows naturally into how the characters were written. However, it does a disservice to the audience that was pulled with the promise of a high-stakes thriller. It’s also not helped by some obvious plot holes, like the lack of an active investigation into Alan’s disappearance or Sam’s other crimes. Refusing to address these areas makes a difference in what would otherwise have been a flawless limited chain.

Despite its audience-deceiving ending, the ten episodes make for a deeply captivating watch that includes equal parts anticipation and attention to family dynamics in Allen’s final result.

Patient is currently streaming on Disney+ Hotstar