Is 'The Crowded Room' based on true story? Tom Holland's Apple TV+ psychological thriller inspired by Daniel Keyes' novel on Billy Milligan
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Apple TV+ original psychological thriller ‘The Crowded Room’ is all set to make viewers explore the dark depths of the human mind. The thriller drama explores the emotional aspects and inner world of the main character called Danny Sullivan played by ‘Spiderman: Homecoming’ star Tom Holland. The storyline incorporates elements of suspense, murder, mystery, and manipulation, creating a tense and unsettling atmosphere for viewers. If you like narratives featuring twists and turns, then this miniseries will keep you on the edge of your seat.
‘The Crowded Room’ is inspired by a non-fictional novel ‘The Minds of Billy Milligan’ by Daniel Keyes which tells the story of Billy Milligan, the first American in history acquitted of a major crime by pleading dissociative identity disorder. The show chronicles a similar fictionalized version of Billy, renamed Danny Sullivan and played by Tom Holland. ‘The Crowded Room’ is set in the summer of 1979 when a young man is arrested for a shocking crime and an investigator named Rya Goodwin (Amanda Seyfried) has to solve the mystery behind it before Danny strikes again.
Is ‘The Crowded Room’ based on a true story?
The upcoming thought-provoking thriller will trace the investigation of a disturbing crime in 1979 in Manhattan. Although the story is based on a criminal, the main question that remains persistent is whether it is based on real-life events. Historically, the story is not entirely true as some artistic freedom has been taken. However, it is loosely based on Daniel Keyes' non-fiction novel about Billy Milligan.
Billy Milligan committed several felonies, and the novel details his life and his 24 different personalities. Milligan's story is also portrayed in a documentary by Netflix titled ‘Monster Inside: The 24 Faces of Billy Milligan’.
Who is Billy Milligan and what did he do?
William Stanley Milligan, also known as Billy Milligan and ‘The Campus Rapist’, was an American convict who was subject to a highly publicized court case in Ohio in the 1970s. He got arrested for armed robbery and r*pe in 1975 and committed several felonies. After a while, he was released on parole but was soon allegedly arrested again for raping three women. He was charged with three counts of kidnapping, three counts of aggravated robbery, and four counts of rape.
During his trial, his psychological evaluation test revealed he had acute schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder. Additionally, his lawyers pleaded insanity, making this the first case in America to plead insanity with DID. Milligan spend a decade in psychiatric care after he was released in 1988, and died of cancer in 2014.
This series has been under development for quite some time as it was originally announced in 2021. Akiva Goldsman, the writer of the show, has started the series in an anthology format, and it is expected to follow the storyline of other criminals or crimes in the following seasons.
‘The Crowded Room’ will premiere on Apple TV+ on June 9, 2023, with the first three episodes being released at the time, and the remaining seven will be released one by one every Friday until July 28.
