Review Of “The Patient”: An Intense Psychological Thriller About A Murderer And His Therapist

A psychology professional will be able to help their patients understand what is affecting them and guide them in the process of developing tools to deal with it. However, what happens when the person seeking therapy is a murderer who wants to stop killing? This is the idea behind "The Patient" ("The Patient"), a series loaded with psychological suspense that in 10 chapters, lasting about half an hour, tells the story of a therapist forced to help a strangler to control his homicidal desires.

The production stars Steve Carell and Domhnall Gleeson. Between the two, they provide a first-rate performance and carry the entire series on their shoulders. This is one of those titles that has the quality of not needing a long chorus of characters to build an intense and compelling story. However, as it progresses, new elements are added that add interesting layers to the story and the message it builds.

“The patient” was first released in the United States and now reaches Latin American audiences through Star +. The creators are Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg, in whose works the series "The Americans" stands out.

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The story of a forced therapy

As for the story, the series introduces us to Alan Strauss (Carell) a professional psychologist with an outstanding career, and author of a highly successful book. Strauss spends her days trying to guide her patients through their traumas and dilemmas. On a personal level, there are several emotional issues that Strauss must resolve. He is going through mourning for the death of his wife. Furthermore, his relationship with his son has gradually broken down after he became an Orthodox Jew, which makes him put his religion and identity as a Jew into perspective.

This man's worries will only increase when he wakes up with an ankle chained to a bed and in a place, he doesn't know. One of his patients who appears before him will confess that he is a murderer with a long history of victims and that this is his most desperate attempt to get professional help to stop his desire to kill.

In this way, some forced and unusual therapies will begin in which Strauss uses all his professional skills to understand the level of disorder of his kidnapper, prevent him from continuing to kill, and from ending up as one of his victims.

The series not only creates constant tension by outlining the interaction of these men, but it also delves into issues such as family. It investigates the weight that broken or flawed ties have, both on the murderer and the therapist. In the story, there is a double act of reflection through two different "therapies", that of Strauss and his captor, and the one that takes place inside the prisoner, whom this extreme situation pushes to a process of introspection in that will address pending issues and areas of conflict.

In short, "The patient" is a series that knows how to take advantage of the resources available to it and builds a tense and dark narrative journey, which becomes more intense as it evolves.