The Alienist opens when a series of haunting, gruesome murders of boy prostitutes grips New York City. Newly appointed police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt (Geraghty) calls upon criminal psychologist (aka alienist) Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (Brühl) and newspaper illustrator John Moore (Evans) to conduct the investigation in secret. They are joined by Sara Howard (Fanning), a headstrong secretary determined to become the city's first female police detective. Using the emerging disciplines of psychology and early forensic investigation techniques, this band of social outsiders set out to find and apprehend one of New York City's first serial killers.
It's a lushly rendered, gritty tale with the kind of nudity, gore and explicit themes often seen in today's quality TV shows. But it's still a largely predictable story.
What must have come to life in the pages of the book struggles to find so much as a spark on the screen -- difficult, admittedly, through the pall of smoke and shadows that tend to choke it.
The Alienist is a murder-by-numbers potboiler that retreads familiar territory -- and is trying a little too hard to gross us out -- but it still manages to hold our attention thanks to its lavish production design and charismatic cast.
The Alienist wishes to balance the quaintness of a period drama with the verve of modern procedurals like the aforementioned Hannibal and Criminal Minds, but it all comes across as too familiar to be entirely exciting.
