Written by Amanda Clark
Apple TV+ has once again hopped on the never-ending bandwagon of shows and films either inspired by or based on a true story with The Crowded Room.
The Crowded Room is a 10-episode psychological thriller limited series set in 1979 where Danny Sullivan (Tom Holland, Spider-man: No Way Home) doesn’t realize he has a mental illness, and it’s unraveled with a series of interrogations with Professor Rya Goodwin (Amanda Seyfried, Mamma Mia!). In the show, Danny is diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, which is known as multiple personality disorder at the time the series is set in. Rya is trying to prove that dissociative identity disorder is real and that Danny has multiple alters — alters are what each personality is referred to in the show.
This specific series is inspired by Billy Milligan, who had 10 personalities, suffered from dissociative identity disorder, and is the first American exonerated of a crime by pleading a dissociative identity disorder defense. However, The Crowded Room is not based on the true story of Milligan’s life — it’s just inspired by his story.
The series starts off slow-paced, showing us the events from Danny’s point of view, so Rya receives the answers to her questions about the crime from what Danny believes to have happened. The viewer begins to see what got Danny to commit a crime in Rockefeller Center in New York City. The first half of the season builds up the more intense parts of the show and the parts that have viewers begin to question what is about to be revealed in the next episode — all of this can only be revealed thanks to that slow build.
However, the first half of the season feels like it could have been condensed into fewer episodes because it takes a while to get to the punch line that kickstarts the chain of events of Danny’s court trial of the shooting. Yes, it’s the show’s intent to have that slow build, but a slow build shouldn’t be a snail-paced build. So, combining two episodes to become one might have helped the overall plot and allowed viewers to get to the more psychological episodes faster.
It’s not until the last third of the season do things truly get interesting when Danny can begin to face everything that he’s connected to and what his alters have done. Because of how long it takes to finally have momentum going with all the events coming together, the inevitable “twist” this show wants to have with Danny realizing his illness is intertwined with everything doesn’t have as much of an impact due to how Rya deals with his alters and getting to the truth.
Some of the story’s plot is predictable, but nonetheless, it’s a show that gets viewers thinking about it even while they aren’t watching it — for example, thinking about how certain characters connect to the overall plot besides being just side characters (because viewers see how they all come together, affecting what happens to Danny) and whether certain characters are just one of Danny’s alters.
It is an interesting take to see how Akiva Goldsman, the show’s creator, portrays the illness where Danny visualizes his alters as people to believe they are different people rather than being a part of him. And as Rya gets closer to the truth — to begin to fight for dissociative identity disorder to become a well-known mental illness — Danny also begins to confront his alters and the truth as well.
Having Holland as Danny is an exciting choice that can showcase how much depth the actor has. He can convey a person who is timid while showing joy, then pan to the next scene portraying the sense of agony with emotional devastation. And alongside his co-star Seyfried, Holland’s portrayal of Danny is phenomenal, and Seyfried delivered just as much emotion.
The Crowded Room is overall an interesting and enjoyable show to watch. It gets the viewer questioning things happening in the show to come to a conclusion at the end along with Rya.
