Before The Brutalist, Brady Corbet Made the Most Divisive Crime Series of Recent Years
This is a rare case where viewers and critics have completely opposite views of the project.
One of the main contenders for the upcoming Oscar has been released on digital. Brady Corbets' The Brutalist has already won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival and a number of awards at the Golden Globe and BAFTA.
The creators of the drama found themselves at the center of a scandal over the use of AI to improve the Hungarian pronunciation of Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones.
But even before The Brutalist, Brady Corbet filmed a project that divided critics and viewers – he was one of the directors of the Apple TV+ show The Crowded Room starring Tom Holland, which received 33% and 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, respectively.
What Is The Crowded Room About?
Danny is a typical outcast teenager, living in his own little fictional world, invaded by evil classmates and indifferent parents. Despite the pretense of loneliness, Danny almost never feels alone: his imaginary friends Jonny, Ariana, Mike, Yitzhak, and others hang out with him from time to time.
The man himself hardly understands the catastrophe of his mental state, the truth can only be revealed with the help of investigator Rya, whom Danny meets after an unsuccessful attempt to attack a person.
The Crowded Room Was Inspired by the Billy Milligan Story
The Crowded Room was inspired by the true story of one of the most famous people with dissociative identity disorder, Billy Milligan.
Daniel Keyes' non-fiction novel was adapted by Akiva Goldsman, who won an Oscar for his screenplay of another drama about a genius with a personality disorder, A Beautiful Mind.
The Crowded Room May Be a Mixed Bag, but It Has Its Undeniable Merits
The Crowded Room was immediately met with a barrage of criticism upon its release, which particularly frustrated the lead actor. Tom Holland admitted that filming the series was too hard and he even decided to take a year off.
The main complaint about the series is that the mystery of the main character is well known even to those who have not read Keyes' novel. As a result, the narrative seems to be trying to hide obvious facts.
But this is arguable. The book about Milligan, for all its initial appeal, is very difficult to film as anything other than an attraction. Showrunner Akiva Goldsman and Brady Corbet did everything they could – at least within the confines of a realistic dramatic project.
The Crowded Room Is a Unique Work in Its Genre and an Acting Achievement for Holland
The Crowded Room is a true psychiatric detective story, a genre not often seen in modern cinema. And if you look at the series in this way, it appears in a much more favorable light.
And most importantly, Holland's performance is really interesting to watch. He has a rare, unconditional charm, and he also knows how to play with halftones and switch between genres.
Here he has the ability to jump between romance, drama and thriller. After such a demonstration of range, there is no reason to doubt the acting abilities of the main Spider-Man of the 2020s.
