PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Based on Caleb Carr’s amazing bestseller, The Alienist is a new TV series on TNT that deftly combines period drama, murder mysteries, and psychological thrills. The title refers to a term used to describe how the mentally ill were seen as alienated from their normal selves, so those who worked with them were known as Alienists.
As the show opens, a terrible murder has taken place in turn of the 19th century New York City. A young boy prostitute has been savagely butchered and laid on top of a bridge. Commissionaire Theodore Roosevelt (Brian Geraghty) has been put on the case and will eventually require the assistance of some very unorthodox individuals, including Alienist Laszlo Kreizler (Daniel Bruhl), Illustrator John Moore (Luke Evans), Secretary Sara Howard (Dakota Fanning).
Laszlo Kreizler, a well respected Alienist, has a soft spoken, gentle demeanor. He is haunted by a set of patients who disappeared and were later found murdered–in a similar fashion of the boy prostitute. John Moore is a talented illustrator drawn into the investigation by Laszlo when he is asked to make illustrations of the bodies. Sara Howard is a vibrant young woman and the only female working in the commissionaire’s office. She is headstrong and jumps eagerly at the chance to join the investigation.
They soon find themselves at odds with the local police department, who seem to want to bury the murders. The police department is ripe with corruption, but the group manages to run an investigation underground. But will they be able to catch the killer before he strikes again?
Daniel Bruhl gives an incredible performance as Laszlo Kreizler, portraying him with a thoughtful gentleness. Dakota Fanning is well suited as the steely Sara Howard. Luke Evans makes a fine and rakish John Moore. The cinematography is simply gorgeous, perfectly capturing the grim, gritty streets of 19th century New York City. The costuming and hair is impeccable. The Alienist is a brilliant, compulsively watchable must see for any fan of psychological thrillers.
