A ‘whirlwind’ thriller series that’s drawn comparisons to Severance is now available to binge in full for free on ITVX.
Released in 2023 on Amazon Prime Video, The Consultant was based on the book by Bentley Little and adapted for screen by Tony Basgallop (Inside Men, What Remains, Servant).
The eight-part series starred Christoph Waltz as Regus Patoff, a mysterious consultant who comes to the rescue of CompWare, a mobile game studio based in downton Los Angeles, after the death of its CEO.
After ‘blowing into town’ he takes charge of the company and leads with an unconventional management style.
The series, which holds an 80% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and this week dropped on ITVX, was largely well received by critics and fans, who praised its ‘slick presentation and diverting twists’.
‘The series defies all expectations while sucking you into the strange story,’ USA Today wrote in its review.
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‘This bonkers comedy-thriller burnishes the familiar deal-with-the-devil conceit with chipper, unapologetic cynicism, and appealing performances from its trio of leads,’ Entertainment Weekly said.
‘Although the official website profiles for The Consultant present it as a dark comedy, it’s actually quite horrifying and triggering, especially for people who’ve traversed the corporate minefield, thereby putting it squarely in the horror genre,’ Digital Mafia Talkies shared.
‘The Consultant is a bonkers show that is a psychologically twisted minefield,’ LeisureByte.com added.
Meanwhile viewers said it was ‘bizarre’, ‘thrilling and dark’ and an ‘absolute whirlwind’.
Although many compared it to Ben Stiller’s hit Apple TV Plus series Severance, some said it didn’t quite live up to it.
‘Severance did everything The Consultant tries to do but far, far better: thriller-level fear of the workplace; a sinister, expanding something-is-going-on feeling; two employees who really need to just kiss each other, now, come on; and never quite knowing if the cause of all the weirdness is supernatural, sci-fi, or Other,’ it explained.
‘The Consultant, despite Waltz’s immaculate lapel-straightening, never quite fills you with that confidence.’
In an interview with ScreenRant, Tony spoke mixing the tone of the series, which blended horror and comedy.
‘I think I was led, really, by the novel by Bentley Little,’ he said. ‘That had a very cruel sense of humour to it, a darkness that I always like to bring into my own work. So that was it really, I wanted to kind of match that style that he’d created, and it felt like we were a good fit.
‘He’s a very dark and twisted individual, and I enjoy kind of adding my dark, twisted nature on top of his dark, twisted nature. So, we were building on each other there.’
The Consultant also stars The Stand’s Natt Wolff and The White Lotus’ Brittany O’Grady.
The Consultant is streaming on ITVX and Amazon Prime Video.
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