'The Patient' and the Beginning of a Larger Conversation in the Horror Genre
Warning: This article contains spoilers for 'The Patient' which began airing on Hulu on August 30. Hulu's 'The Patient' is a different kind of horror, defined by its lighthearted style and lack of melodrama. It stars Steve Carell, a comedy superstar famous for his roles in 'The Office' and the '40-Year-Old Virgin.' Carell plays a successful psychologist, Dr. Alan Strauss, who's abducted by his patient, Sam Fortner (Domnhall Gleason). He wakes up and finds himself lying in a strange bed with a shackle around his ankle. During their initial conversation, it's revealed that Sam is a serial killer who kidnaps the doctor in an attempt to get help with his homicidal urges. If Sam was truthful about the things he'd done in a normal office setting, he'd have to worry about the doctor reporting him, and he couldn't have that. Instead, he found a doctor that he could hold hostage in his downstairs den. It's a simple environment. There's green shag carpeting, board games stacked up against the banister, and double doors leading outside. It's a stark departure from the dungeons and makeshift torture chambers we can usually expect from the genre. From the beginning, Carell, who colors the character with a sense irony and cynicism, takes a hushed approach to things. There's no clawing at the walls, no banging around, and no begging. Instead, he tries to manipulate his captor, faking treatment options, advising him against this kind of care, and trying to convince Sam that he wouldn't have to report him at all. He could simply forget this ever happened and treat Sam like any normal patient. He says they could even make an appointment for the following week. It's all a ruse to get free, and none of it works. Ultimately, he's forced to create a shank out of his foot cream tube, which he uses to hold Sam's mother up at knifepoint. He gives Sam the choice to either turn himself in or watch his mother die. It doesn't work. Sam tackles him to the ground and strangles him just like he does with his other victims. There was no struggle--or very little, at least--no fireworks, no gunshot, no suspense. Everything felt futile, or at least doubtful, and strangulation is not a dramatic death. It's silent and quick. Strauss is killed in the same muted style that characterized the entire series.
