Colman Domingo Propels Phenomenally Entertaining “The Insanity” | TV/Streaming

Netflix waited till Thanksgiving to drop its greatest unique collection since “Ripley” earlier this yr, a really completely different form of thriller that includes one other magnetic efficiency from the unimaginable Colman Domingo. A cleverly fashionable riff on “The Fugitive,” “The Insanity” is a present a few TV journalist who has been part of our more and more insane discourse earlier than discovering himself in an more and more harmful nightmare. Domingo is joined by an outstanding ensemble that features top-of-the-line turns from the timeless John Ortiz, a fantastic Deon Cole, a charming Alison Wright, a pointy Bradley Whitford, and wonderful character actors abound like Stephen McKinley Henderson (additionally within the different wonderful late ’24 Netflix unique “A Man on the Inside“). The forged was interested in a propulsive thriller that matches the binge mannequin completely in that each episode ends with one other twist/cliffhanger. It should be arduous to show off, in all the correct methods.

The premiere of “The Insanity,” directed by the nice Clement Virgo (“Brother“), who additionally helms the second and final pair of episodes, introduces us to Domingo’s Muncie Daniels, a CNN anchor with an ex-wife (Marsha Stephanie Blake) and comparatively estranged youngsters named Kallie (Gabrielle Graham) and Demetrius (Thaddeus J. Mixson). To get away from all of it, he rents a cabin within the Poconos, the place he’ll work on his e book and unwind. He notices a neighbor not far by means of the woods, who says that he ought to come by if he wants something.

Sooner or later, his energy goes out, so he takes the neighbor up on that provide, and finds his mutilated corpse. Attacked by whoever hacked up the man subsequent door, Daniels is compelled to struggle for his life, however issues get a lot worse when he will get house and discovers that he is being framed for the crime. You see, the sufferer was a frontrunner of a Proud Boys-esque White Energy motion, and the police consider that Daniels snapped on his racist ass. Can Muncie clear his identify and resolve who really dedicated the crime?

Muncie begins by making an attempt to determine extra in regards to the sufferer, bringing his ex-wife Lucie (a wonderful Tamsin Topolski) into the combo. The investigation leads him to uncover connections between the racist group and the seats of energy in Philly and D.C. It turns into fairly clear that Muncie is up towards one thing a lot larger than a single crime, and that the folks making an attempt to border him have the overwhelming energy to do something, even manipulating the media establishments which have made him well-known. When Whitford seems as a slimy energy participant, the waters through which Muncie is making an attempt to swim get even choppier, however it’s the arrival of Alison Wright of “The Individuals” fame that actually takes “The Insanity” to a different degree. She’s one of the chilling villains in a present in years.

Everybody in “The Insanity” is strong, particularly nice character actors like Ortiz and Henderson, however the present actually belongs to Domingo, who’s so remarkably good at being within the second. We consider his rising worry and countering willpower to maintain himself and his household secure. The plotting by creator Stephen Belber, a playwright who famously wrote the unique stage model of Richard Linklater‘s wonderful “Tape,” is razor sharp for nearly eight full hours. (The final hour will get somewhat within the weeds about “What This All Means” concerning our present state of media and political manipulation, however it’s a minor grievance.) Considered one of many laudable issues about this wonderful thriller is its ruthlessness, mirrored in its willingness to unexpectedly kill off characters sooner than audiences could anticipate. It is a present about harmful individuals who will go to nice lengths to maintain their skeletons of their closets, and the writers do not sugarcoat the hazard like numerous streaming thrillers.

Courtesy of Virgo and the opposite administrators, it is also a sharply made present, even when it does typically succumb to the under-lighting that has grow to be a Netflix epidemic. It is forgivable as a result of the plotting is so breakneck and the modifying so exact that one would not discover as a lot because the sometimes bloated Netflix manufacturing.

Most of all, “The Insanity” is one other reminder of the vary and energy of Colman Domingo, Oscar-nominated final yr for “Rustin” and hopefully once more this yr for “Sing Sing.” A thriller like “The Insanity” solely works if we consider the journey of its protagonist, and Domingo utterly closes the sale. We do not simply root for him to succeed, we’re on this journey with him, strapped into the rollercoaster, as startled as he’s by every subsequent twist and switch.

The vacations could be a tense time, sufficient to make anybody insane. Examine into a special form of “Insanity” this yr and possibly Netflix will make extra exhibits like this one, a thriller that truly thrills and a program that treats its viewers like clever adults as an alternative of simply escapism seekers in search of one thing to placed on within the background whereas they doomscroll. It is a unhappy factor to should say, however this one will make you place your telephone down and concentrate. Insanity, certainly.

Complete season screened for assessment. Now on Netflix.