The Outsider (miniseries)

The Outsideris an Americanpsychological thriller-horrorcrime dramatelevision series based on the 2018novel of the same namebyStephen King, adapted for television byRichard Price. It was ordered to series on December 3, 2018,after being optioned as a miniseries byMRCin June 2018.It premiered onHBOon January 12, 2020.It starsBen Mendelsohn,Cynthia Erivo,Bill Camp,Paddy Considine,Julianne Nicholson, andJason Bateman(who also directed the first two episodes).
In November 2020, HBO declined a second season, and production company MRC intended to shop the series to other outlets.King said that scripts for a second season were written, and the cast and crew expressed interest in continuing the series.
The series was announced in June 2018, withRichard Pricehired to adapt theStephen Kingnovel.HBOofficially commissioned the series in December, withBen Mendelsohncast in the lead while serving as a producer.Jason Batemanexecutive produced and also stars in the series.
In January 2019, the core main cast was set, seeing the additions ofCynthia Erivo,Bill Camp,Mare Winningham,Paddy Considine,Julianne Nicholson,Yul Vazquez,Jeremy Bobband Marc Menchaca.Hettienne ParkandMichael Esperappear in recurring roles.
Richard Price took considerable liberties in adapting the novel to television. In the series, Ralph Anderson is grieving the death of his son, who is alive in the book. "I needed Ralph to have more of a personal stake in the loss of children," Price toldVariety.The pace of the series is also considerably different; the first two episodes cover the first half of the novel, while the remaining eight episodes cover the second half.
The series was shot in theAtlanta metropolitan area, including locations inCanton, Georgia.
The character of Holly Gibney was first introduced by King in the Bill Hodges trilogy of novels. That trilogy has been adapted into the TV seriesMr. Mercedes, which premiered onAudiencein 2017 withJustine Lupeas Gibney.Showrunner Richard Price reworked the character to some extent, without keeping the continuity with theMr. MercedesTV series or Bill Hodges novels (Price did not watch the series or read the novels) and asked Stephen King to rename the character, but King insisted on keeping the name Holly Gibney.
OnRotten Tomatoes, the series has a 91% rating with an average score of 7.7 out of 10 based on 77 reviews. The site's critical consensus is, "ThoughThe Outsider's slow burn isn't always satisfying, it remains watchable thanks to its excellent performances – especially series stand out Cynthia Erivo."OnMetacritic, it has a score of 68 out of 100 based on 29 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
The first two episodes of the series were critically acclaimed, with particular praise for its atmosphere, Bateman's direction, and the performances of the cast. Reception was less positive for the remainder of the series, with continued praise for the cast (particularly Erivo and Mendelsohn) but criticism directed towards the series' pace, length, and handling of the supernatural elements of the source material.Taylor AntrimofVoguecalled the first two hours "thrilling [and] totally frightening", praising Mendelsohn's "magnificent" performance and the "unrelentingly dark, irresistibly tense" atmosphere. Remarking on the later episodes, Antrim stated, "Surely enough, this series, which begins at a roiling boil, slows to a tight simmer. There is talk of doppelgängers, a demonic man in a hoodie, malevolent spirits that feed on grief. AsThe Outsiderlazes into such horror tropes, the series loses some of its early charge."Sophie Gilbert ofThe Atlanticfelt that the series worked better as an "elegantly bleak procedural," citing writer Price's inexperience with the horror genre as the reason why "the minute the series has to contend with inexplicable phenomena, it unravels." Still, Gilbert called the first two episodes "superb," praising Bateman's "strikingly effective" performance and direction and also singling out Mendelsohn and Nicholson for praise.
Mike Hale of theNew York Timescredited writer Price with keeping the series's mystery "legible and credible" and named Erivo's performance as Holly Gibney the best part of the series. That said, Hale found that the series often struggled to adapt its source material, and also criticized the slow pace.Jen Chaney ofVulturenoted that the series struggled to balance its tone between "a relatively standard, well-executed crime drama" and "more supernatural, King-style territory." Chaney praised the "welcome understatement" of Erivo's performance and called Mendelsohn "superb" but criticized the series for introducing too many additional subplots and losing its narrative focus. Chaney summarized, "It feels like Price had a firm grip on this story at first but, as he added to it, it started to slip through his fingers like wet clay whipping around on a pottery wheel without firm hands to shape it."
The 10-episode limited series was released on Blu-ray and DVD in the United States on July 28, 2020, and features over 40 minutes of  behind-the-scenes content.