After several unproductive therapy sessions, a reticent patient finally makes some progress, opening up about his struggles for the first time in months. It’s a significant breakthrough for the troubled Sam — albeit one that’s tempered by the fact that it comes just after he’s chained up his psychiatrist in his basement.
A show about a serial murderer who kidnaps his therapist may sound primed for a stagy battle of wits between two methodical minds. But The Patient is sharper and more nuanced than its contrived set-up suggests. Over 10 punchy episodes — most of which are less than 30 minutes — the series tells an unexpectedly searching story about trauma, empathy and conscience that plays out against a backdrop of intense jeopardy. Here, the everyday challenge of understanding both ourselves, and others, is rendered as a matter of life and death.
For Sam (Domhnall Gleeson), a diffident thirtysomething restaurant inspector, the joyless need to kill comes from an inaccessible part of himself. In a desperate attempt to get to the bottom of his compulsion before he claims another victim, he abducts his therapist, Alan Strauss (Steve Carell), so that he can speak candidly and without risk of the police being notified. Alan recognises that his only hope of getting out alive rests on his ability to delve into the tortured psyche of his captor.
What follows is largely a two-hander (with some notable, shocking exceptions) that is both incisively written and exquisitely performed. For Sam to convince, Gleeson has to find humanity in a character capable of inhuman cruelty. The way his face alternately tightens and softens, combined with the physical vocabulary of restless tics, reveals how Sam is a man at war with himself. That we’re almost compelled to pity his helplessness makes him more disquieting than a cold-blooded sadist.
Carell too has never been better. The actor excels at playing outsized personalities, but he surpasses himself here in this complex, unshowy role. His defining characteristic is his quiet resolve to hold it together — and even offer guidance and compassion — as his client falls apart. Yet as Alan’s situation becomes more harrowing, Carell lets us see the pain, fear and doubt that threaten to break to the surface.
Alan’s character is deepened by flashback snapshots of his own private life, which has been touched by grief and estrangement from his orthodox son. While these insights into Alan’s family and his Jewish faith may feel digressive at first, they gradually, satisfyingly become woven into the main story. But for the most part The Patient is confined to one room and two compelling characters. There’s little need for further embellishment. As Alan says, the human mind “is where everything takes place”.
★★★★☆
On Disney Plus from November 30 and on Hulu in the US
Find out about our latest stories first — follow @ftweekend on Twitter
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Art-Culture News Click Here
