The Crowded Room promised to be a breathtaking thriller, based on interrogations between the author of a shooting and a mysterious investigator. But this new series in 10 episodes, available on Apple TV+ and Canal+, misses its objective. Only Tom Holland manages to get us out of trouble.
Just reading the two words “Tom Holland” might have prompted you to click on this review. And you’re right: the current interpreter of Spiderman finally finds the dramatic work he needed with The Crowded Room. This new Apple TV+ production, also available on Canal+, largely spares the mystery around its plot. The press has also received a list as long as your arm of major elements not to be revealed, so as not to spoil the spectators.
Since we cannot reveal too many narrative elements to you, we will simply summarize the series as follows: in the late 1970s, in Manhattan, Danny Sullivan is arrested. Accused of having triggered a shooting in the city center, the young man assures us that it is his friend, Ariana, who is the author of this criminal event, which has injured several people. Problem: this accomplice has since been found. In the meantime, Danny will therefore have to cooperate with the mysterious investigator Rya Goodwin, who could well turn his whole life upside down…
Tom Holland is the new Paul Dano
On paper, we hoped that The Crowded Room either the psychological thriller of the year: panting, surprising, the kind to make us jump in front of our screen. Unfortunately, it seems the show has only one real ace up its sleeve: Tom Holland. The 27-year-old actor simply reveals the best performance of his (short) career with the character of Danny. If the actor was already rather convincing in the last Spiderman, especially in the comic register, this first real dramatic role gives a whole new dimension to his acting.
We are truly witnessing the blossoming of an unsuspected talent, reminiscent of the charisma and talent of a Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine, Prisoners, The Batman), at its beginnings. We don’t have permission to tell you how his interpretation touched us in the heart from a narrative point of view, but we came away amazed from the 10 episodes of the series. Tom Holland, himself, recently revealed that he was out ” broken “ of the filming of The Crowded Room, of which he is also an executive producer. Playing Danny Sullivan shook him up so much that he announced he was taking a one-year break from his artistic journey. This gives you an idea of his involvement and the immensity of his performance in this thriller.
A firecracker wet with complexity
But the problem is here: The Crowded Room is built like a thriller, supposed to keep us in suspense from beginning to end. Tom Holland manages enough to touch our heartstrings so that we continue, indeed, to follow his adventures. But for how long ? We ourselves have been spoiled for the major “twist” of the series, which we must not divulge here and which only occurs in the second half of the season.
But, truth be told, without this crucial piece of information, we might never have watched all 10 episodes to the end. It is precisely this essential datum which gives the equation The Crowded Room all its dramatic complexity and above all its originality. Without saying too much, the treatment of its main theme is remarkable for its sensitivity and inventiveness.
But if we suppress this knowledge, what remains? A series not really addictive, which links the shots as quickly as the pearls of a necklace and which does not benefit from subtle dialogues. The adolescent chronicle in the style of sex, drugs, rock’n’roll and family problems then mixes with a police investigation into Danny’s true identity, in a mix already seen and seen again on the small screen.
And, let’s be honest: anyone who has ever seen the slightest detective series in their life will not need more than three or four episodes to understand the ins and outs of the scenario, whereas it is necessary to wait for episode 6 to finally put highlight this famous “revelation”.
At least we will have the credits
The Crowded Room thus suffers from a big narrative concern: to base his entire story on a “twist”, certainly well brought, but which we are already very strongly suggested from the first episode and which is above all much too late. We thus find ourselves confused halfway through the season, being deprived of the central element, supposed to make us continue to watch. The series still benefits from a rather interesting visual direction, especially in the very first episode, whose play of shadows and lights fits the atmosphere perfectly.
The credits, all in watercolors, are also magnificent, so much so that we would almost like to stay there for the duration of the episodes. But when said credits are precisely better constructed and maintains more suspense than the episodes it should introduce, one can legitimately ask questions about the scriptwriting qualities of the series.
The first 3 episodes of The Crowded Room are already available on Apple TV+ as well as on Canal+. A new episode will then be available every Friday, until July 28, 2023.
The verdict
We liked
- Tom Holland, heartbreaking
- An original treatment for mental health
- A few peaks of emotion
- A sumptuous credits
We liked less
- Too many mysteries for not much
- too many episodes
- Too many stories at once
- Too many supposed “revelations”
- Too many cliches
By viewing The Crowded Room, we wondered if the series was not born of a bet, as it mixes the worst and the best. This psychological thriller, centered on the perpetrator of a shooting who discovers disturbing new elements about his past, continues to destabilize. It is thus as inconstant as the duration of its episodes, between 40 and 60 minutes each. Both Tom Holland’s best role, but also one of the worst settings to showcase it, The Crowded Room could have been a fantastic series about mental health, if it weren’t trying to make it so complicated at all costs. Fortunately, a deluge of good feelings takes us somehow in the last two episodes, if you hang on until then.
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