The Assassination of Gianni Versace: Review

Next on my quest to watch the entirety of Ryan Murphy's back catalogue is American Crime Story.

I'm not quite sure what drew me to this series instead of the more popular The People vs OJ Simpson. I think it was probably because I knew less about this case and wasn't sure if there was anything in the previous series that would shock me. If it was shocking I wanted... it was shocking I got.

I love a good thriller series and while I've never been one to watch any true crime documentaries there's something about the true story element that just makes it so much more terrifying. While it is not part of Ryan Murphy's American Horror Story series, The Assassination of Gianni Versace feels more like a horror in tone and execution. An extremely uncomfortable exploration of a killer where each episode gets more claustrophobic than the last.

1. Plot

The series follows serial killer Andrew Cunanan who kills five people in the span of a three month period in 1997. His spree ended with the assassination of world renowned fashion designer Gianni Versace.

Each episode moves back in time, the first episode starts with the assassination itself which would lead to Cunanan's capture before the previous episodes explore his journey there in reverse.

The murders are increasingly disturbing and personal as Cunanan targets those who rejected him, desperately clinging to ex-boyfriends and sleeping with wealthy older men to try and acquire their wealth. His love of "the finer things in life" fuel his needy climb to the top of society. A charismatic and compulsive liar, Cunanan remains a constant mystery until the very end where the truth of his upbringing is revealed.

The show is obviously based on true events and some people may find it uncomfortable that the show chooses to follow the killer instead of Versace himself. Unlike fictional killers like Villanelle from Killing Eve, it's hard to take as much enjoyment from Cunanan's depraved murders knowing that they actually happened. The show is, after all, a dramatisation and a piece of entertainment but there were times where I caught myself enjoying the show a bit too much to the extent where I'd forget this was a real man. Part of this is down to Darren Criss' incredible performance. While you never come to sympathise with Cunanan (he remains an uncomfortable/terrifying presence throughout) I did find myself weirdly enjoying his character in a way I'm not sure how to feel about.

2. Performance

Darren Criss is brilliant in this role. I started watching this show before I watched Glee and honestly the range of this guy just boggles the mind. His portrayal of Cunanan is constantly creepy. Just his presence in any room is enough to raise the tension in a scene. His spoilt attitude and psychopathic lack of empathy countered by his desperation to be loved creates a character who is both emotionally distant and emotionally needy, his frustration between the two makes him a captivating character to watch.

The other performances are just as captivating. Édgar Ramírez is great as Versace himself, a character you also get to learn about in reverse. Originally I wasn't convinced by Penélope Cruz as his sister Donatella but as the show progressed I really began to enjoy her performance and empathise with her character who would come to inherit a fashion empire under the worst of circumstances.

Cody Fern as David Madson has to be my favourite performance second to Criss. He plays Cunanan's ex boyfriend who Cunanan forces back into a relationship with him after murdering his best friend and dog and taking him hostage. Cunanan genuinely believes they are in love, proposing multiple times before the fateful end. The main episode he stars in, episode 4, has to be one of the shows most impactful and terrifying episodes. Every scene made me feel more and more claustrophobic and I genuinely didn't know where it was going to end up having not heard anything else about the case before going in. Both Darren and Cody act the hell out of it and as a result it's one of the best episodes of television I've seen in a long time.

3. Conclusion

While the murders themselves are terrifying the fact that Cunanan got away with so much just because his victims were gay men is what really solidifies its disturbing status. It takes the murder of a world famous celebrity before the authorities pull their fingers out to find this man and even then he hardly hides.

The show doesn't shy away from sex and gore and like all Ryan Murphy shows, the look of the series is slick and beautifully shot, something that fits with Cunanan's facade. Part of me knows that any other way would not have worked for this show but the other half of me feels uneasy at the glorification of Cunanan's actions. Maybe "glorify" is the wrong word but sensationalise definitely. The wealth and glamour and pretty people make the show no less tense but certainly raises questions about the morality of it all. Then again in a series which is designed to make you constantly queasy, perhaps that's part of the point.

I thought this show was really, really good. I'm not sure what it says about me but exploring the dark underbelly of gay culture, the wicked performances, trying to piece together the timeline and the tense cinematography made this show a very bingable winner and probably my favourite Ryan Murphy project to date... Apart from Pose... I really need to do a blog post on Pose.

8/10