Dakota Fanning and Luke Evans star in Netflix’s big new drama The Alienist

NETFLIX, 19 APRIL

It’s taken 24 years for Caleb Carr’s huge, best-selling novel The Alienist to reach our screens. That’s probably because it’s full of fairly perverse, nasty subject matter and is set in late 19thcentury New York, the depiction of which was always going to lead to major expense. But it’s perfect for our brave new world of premium TV, and Netflix in particular, which has acquired the ten-part series from US cable channel TNT, who spent an alleged $5million on each episode. Wisely, Netflix has waited for the whole series to air in the States, so they can make it available as one big binge available from next Thursday.

NO ALIENS

Despite the title, this isn’t a science-fiction story. The word “alienist” is an archaic term for a criminal psychologist, who has to deal with disturbed people alienated from themselves and society. And the novel’s main character is leading alienist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (Daniel Brühl), who’s called into action by the New York police, led by future President Theodore Roosevelt (Brian Geraghty) when they discover the gruesomely mutilated body of a boy prostitute. It turns out there’s a serial killer stalking these poor youths, and Kreizler is joined by his friend John Moore (Luke Evans), a newspaper illustrator, and police department secretary Sara Howard (Dakota Fanning) in a secret investigation into the hideous murders.

THE VERDICT

The word “cinematic” is used a lot these days when it comes to big TV dramas, but The Alienist really is a visual stunner from the first moment onwards. If you can take the liberal use of blood and gore, it’s well worth following the enthralling narrative, vividly brought to life.