Fans of the new Apple TV series The Crowded Room have been left confused after it received a low score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
The psychological drama stars Tom Holland and Amanda Seyfried. It's based on the true story of Billy Milligan, who made history as the first American to be let off for crimes including rape and kidnap after successfully pleading dissociative identity disorder related insanity.
Holland portrays Danny Sullivan and follows on from his arrest after aNew York City shooting in 1979. Danny unveils his life through a series of interviews with interrogator Rya Goodwin, played by Seyfried.
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Apple TV premiered the show's first three episodes on Friday, June 9, with a new episode to be released every Friday until July 28. So far, it has earned rave reviews from fans - but not so much from critics.
At the time of writing, The Crowded Room had less than 50 reviews from viewers, but had garnered an audience score of 98 percent. In contrast, 17 reviews from Rotten Tomatoes critics branded the show with a score of just 18 percent.
Taking to social media, fans were perplexed by the difference in scores. Sharing a screenshot of the ratings, @slkmorales tweeted: "this is why i never trust rotten tomatoes!"
@JiJeZeTom added: "The crowded room : I need to understand the critics hate cause I just finished the 3 episodes and I was so invested i couldn’t stop watching. So good." @godomischief said: "started watching the first episode of the crowded room and so far it aint THAT bad. The critics were making it sound worse".
Over on Rotten Tomatoes, one critic wrote: "Minute by minute, it's slow going. In that sense, it's much like reading a novel that spends hundreds of pages telling a short story." Another said: "The show can’t seem to figure out if it wants to be a shocking crime drama or an earnest treatise on the stigmas surrounding mental illness, and as a result, it ends up as neither."
Other reviews, however, praise Holland for his performance as Danny. One said: "This series belongs to Holland and he’s shattering to behold" while another added: "The interrogation scenes between Rya and Danny take on heartbreaking dimension as fantasy gives way to tragic reality. If you can make it through the first five episodes, you will be rewarded."
The first three episodes of The Crowded Room are available to stream on Apple TV now, with the next instalment dropping on Friday June 16.
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