The Crowded Room

"Definitely mysterious, yet convoluted. It hooked me within the first 5 minutes, however, it has a SLOW BUILD (but it’s never dull, and the late 70’s soundtrack & aesthetic is excellent), but, like I said, it hits a bit of a slump after that first episode — but if you decide to stick with it, Episode 7 is a “key” episode that helps confirm any guesses you might have as to what’s going on in the plot. I’d say this is a good drama so far, it’s NOT gonna be one of my all-time favorites, but if you’re a Tom Holland fan, you might enjoy it just for his work here. Unfortunately, I just realized my 3-month trial subscription to AppleTV+ gets cancelled before the FINAL episode gets released 😞 BOTTOM LINE: Without seeing the final 2 episodes, SO FAR, I’d give this between 3 to 4 stars."

"Performances were extraordinary from all cast involved but the amount of depth that Tom Holland has shown was above and beyond exceptional cannot praise this young actor enough! "

"Wow! Tom Holland deserved an Oscar for this! And amazing soundtrack that brought back all the memories! Incredibly well done! I just looked at Wikipedia and apparently "critics" didn't like it. I NEVER agree with these people and often wonder if they're just trying to sound more important than they are. "The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 34% approval score with an average rating of 4.8/10 based on 50 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "The Crowded Room is furnished with undeniable talent and built on a promising premise, but the story runs in circles, resulting in an exhausting and often frustrating experience." That makes zero sense to me. The story didn't run in circles. Various parts were, in essence, retold but with a new perspective and/or more contex. It was never exhausting or frustrating. It was a wonderful experience. SPOILERS BELOW I've had the book The Minds of Billy Milligan in my cart for a long time now. I know this show is only inspired by the book and is not meant to be Billy Milligan but his name is Danny Sullivan, which seems to be quite close to Billy Milligan in cadence and ethnicity. They're both about a person with MPD who wins a major crimes case due to his disorder. Both are about how the trial led to MPD finally being recognized as a real disorder in the psychology books. The biggest difference seems to be the crimes committed, which are quite different between the true life Billy and the fictional Danny. Anyway, I'm wondering how many other things are similar between the book and this mini series. Time to buy the book! END OF SPOILERS I'm going to watch this again with my daughter because it's just that good. Tom Holland is incredible. Doing this show took such a toll on his psyche, he decided to take a break from acting to get his mind back to a good place. Such dedication from an actor and a decent human being. I love Tom Holland. See Tom Holland quote in regards to this show in the comments."

"Oh my gosh this is soooooo good. The actors they picked for these characters is perfect. I highly recommend. "

"This is a slow burn. I knew what the show was based on, so I definitely stayed and paid attention alot longer than I think I would have if I didn't know. I loved Tom Holland's acting and I hope he gets more dramatic roles he does really well in these."

"A representation of split personality disorder. Very great acting thought the whole show. "

"Absolutely loved this. Storyline was amazing. Tom holland did a great job. "

"omg, my fav series this year. U can tell they put much effort into making this perfect. The aesthetics/cinematography , clothes, cars, 70s storefronts, wonder bread & metal lunch boxes, lol were done so precisely i felt like i was back in the 70s. That alone is award worthy. I watched whole series, it dragged a bit & i later found out its based on a true story about a guy named Billy Milligan, who raped young girls on an Ohio campus. This changed my opinion somewhat . I still love the series & am now watching Netflix The 24 Faces Of Billy Milligan & will review that at a later date. 7/10 "

"This needs an additional star or I have to go back and change all my other reviews!!! Struck me deeply and stayed in my mind after each episode… thinking and trying to figure it out and then when I did realize what was happening I couldn’t wait to watch the next episode. "

"On the 3rd episode, very entertaining leaving you wanting more with a bit of slow burn. Great character building! Wish I did not have to wait for the next episode. Definitely binge worthy 💓"