TNT has gained a new series set to air in late 2017. Based on Caleb Carr’s 1994 novel, The Alienist revolves around a series of murders during New York’s Gilded Age (late 19th Century) and the two men who attempt to uncover the mystery.
Captain America: Civil War star Daniel Bruhl will play forensic psychologist Dr. Laszlo Kriezler, while The Girl on the Train‘s Luke Evans will star as reporter John Moore.
The series will be executive produced and directed by Jakob Verbruggen. Verbgruggen is a BAFTA nominated director and has helmed episodes of Black Mirror, Netflix’s House of Cards and the first season of The Fall. Production will begin in Budapest in early 2017.
Based on the international best-selling novel by Caleb Carr, The Alienist is a psychological thriller set in the Gilded Age of New York City in 1896, a city of vast wealth, extreme poverty and technological innovation. When a series of haunting, gruesome murders of boy prostitutes grips the city, newly appointed police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt calls upon criminal psychologist (aka alienist) Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (Brühl) and newspaper reporter John Moore (Evans) to conduct the investigation in secret. They are aided by a makeshift crew of singular characters, among them the intrepid Sara Howard, a young secretary on Roosevelt’s staff who is determined to become the first female police detective in New York City. Using the emerging disciplines of psychology and early forensic investigation techniques, this band of social outsiders tracks down one of New York City’s first serial killers.
Known as an alienist – one who studies mental pathologies – Dr. Kriezler works as a specialist in deviant behavior. His profession, along with his careless intensity, makes him a social pariah in some circles, despite his striking good looks and a sophisticated sensibility. Kreizler is passionate about his work and tireless in his efforts to seek out the depraved killer whose vicious, barbaric and ritualistic deeds have terrorized the city’s poorest residents. In doing so, he hopes to also unravel the traumatic mysteries of the human psyche, especially his own, and answer the question behind what makes a man into a murderer.
Handsome, easy going, easily distracted, and prone to melancholy, John Moore is a society illustrator for the New York Times and a longtime friend of alienist Dr. Kreizler and police commissioner Teddy Roosevelt. While drowning his sorrows and lamenting the loss of a former lover Kreizler summons him to the scene of a brutal crime. Always lacking drive and a meaning to his pursuits he throws himself into assisting Kreizler’s investigation into the grisly murders and comes to face some hard truths about himself.
Originally published November 29, 2016. Updated April 16, 2018.
