Who is The Alienist?

Today, Netflix, the world’s leading Internet entertainment service, announced that the highly anticipated series The Alienist, starring Daniel Brühl, Dakota Fanning and Luke Evans, will launch on April 19th exclusively on Netflix everywhere excluding the U.S. and France. All ten episodes will be available at once for members around the world.

An unflinching psychological thriller set amidst the underbelly of New York City’s “Gilded Age,” The Alienist follows Laszlo Kreizler, a brilliant and obsessive “Alienist” in the controversial new field of treating mental pathologies, who holds the key to hunting down a never-before-seen ritualistic killer murdering young boys. Based on the award-winning, fan-favorite novel by Caleb Carr, with standout performances from Luke Evans and Dakota Fanning, The Alienist is a gripping, turn-of-the-century murder mystery like none other: the story of the emergence of the world’s most powerful city that will stop at nothing to bury its darkest secrets.

In The Alienist, Luke Evans plays newspaper illustrator John Moore and Dakota Fanning plays Sara Howard, an ambitious secretary determined to become the city’s first female police detective. The series also stars Brian Geraghty as police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt, Douglas Smith and Matthew Shear as Marcus and Lucius Isaacson, twin brothers who help unravel the disturbing mystery; Matt Lintz as Stevie, a tough, young boy employed by Dr. Kreizler as a driver and errand boy; Robert Ray Wisdom as Cyrus, Kreizler’s valet, a man with a dark past who has been reformed by Kreizler; and Q’orianka Kilcher as Mary, Kreizler’s mute maid with whom he shares a special unspoken connection.

The response to the show in the US has been incredible and now I can’t wait for the rest of the world to watch it”, says Luke Evans.

To play one of the most compelling characters I’ve ever read on the page has been a huge honour”, says Daniel Brühl. “Caleb Carr devised a fascinating world of intrigue and complexity, and I look forward to international audiences seeing how our brilliant cast and creatives have brought his words to life.

I am very proud of this show, and really excited that people will be able to watch it all at once”, adds Dakota Fanning.

Shot in Budapest, Hungary, The Alienist is a co-production of Paramount Television and Turner’s Studio T. BAFTA-nominee Jakob Verbruggen (Black Mirror) serves as director and executive producer along with Academy Award® winner Eric Roth (Forrest Gump), Academy Award® nominees Hossein Amini (Drive) and E. Max Frye (Foxcatcher), Anonymous Content’s Steve Golin and Rosalie Swedlin, along with Chris Symes and Emmy® winner Cary Fukunaga (True Detective). Serving as co-executive producers on the series are Marshall Persinger (Rectify) and Jamie Payne (The Driver).