Plot: Inspired by the true story of Marty and the therapist who turned his life around…then took it over. When he first meets Dr. Ike, Marty just wants to get better at boundaries. Over 30 years, he’ll learn all about them—and what happens when they get crossed.
Review: True crime podcasts have served as fodder for all sorts of acclaimed series, both documentary and narrative. Mostly centered on crimes involving theft, murder, and adultery, audiences never seem to tire when learning about the sordid lives of people capable of committing heinous acts against their fellow humans. But, sometimes these crimes are just so weird that you are left baffled as to how something so strange could even occur. The new AppleTV+ series The Shrink Next Door falls into that latter category. Featuring no murders or violent acts, it is instead just a strange story about a con artist and a weak-willed person that you will not believe is actually true. With subdued performances from Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd, this is a story that has all of the hallmarks of great entertainment but never quite comes together on screen.
Spanning three decades, The Shrink Next Door introduces us to Marty Markowitz (Will Ferrell), a 40-year-old owner of a fabric wholesale company who suffers from panic attacks and crippling loneliness. His sister Phyllis (Kathryn Hahn) arranges an appointment with noted psychiatrist Dr. Ike Herschkopf (Paul Rudd). Marty is initially reluctant to meet the therapist, but Dr. Ike’s warm and inviting demeanor and help with an old girlfriend convince Marty to trust him. Little does he know but Dr. Ike is infatuated with fame, success, wealth, and glory. As the story progresses, Ike ingratiates himself more and more into Marty’s life, convincing the nebbish businessman that they are best friends while fleecing him out of his money and property.
Developed and written by Georgia Pritchett (Succession, Veep) and directed by Michael Showalter (Wet Hot American Summer) and Jesse Peretz, The Shrink Next Door is an unconventional project for Ferrell and Rudd. Both actors play their roles as surreally serious with the humor coming out in a much different style than we are accustomed to seeing from these two. As the most dramatic role from Ferrell since either 2010’s Everything Must Go or 2006’s Stranger Than Fiction, this performance has some funny moments but Ferrell primarily serves as the straight man to Rudd’s more unhinged Dr. Ike. Rudd, who is Jewish, portrays Dr. Ike as a stereotypical New Yorker replete with Yiddish phrases and references to Jewish culture. Ferrell adopts a similar affect in his performance which feels slightly more uncomfortable since the actor is not Jewish.
While their accents may border on silly, both Ferrell and Rudd are truly enthralling as these two characters. The series does a great job of making you care about Marty as a person as much as you begin to despise the control that Dr. Ike maintains over him. There is a thin line between feeling sympathy and revulsion for these people but the series takes such a deliberate approach to show every betrayal in their thirty-year relationship that you will begin to question if such a strange series of events could actually have taken place. This series really is a showcase for the two leads as they do appear either together or solo in virtually every scene, but the supporting cast is also very good. Kathryn Hahn portrays Marty’s sister, Phyllis, and as always is an all-star player. Casey Wilson also has an impactful turn as Ike’s wife, Bonnie, who sees the two sides of her husband’s personality.
The period-specific details are also quite good. With the series starting in the 1980s and going all the way up to 2021, the make-up on both actors is very impressive. Will Ferrell may strain credulity starting the series as a 40-year-old, but as his natural gray comes in, so does his performance as Marty. On the flip side, the eternally youthful Rudd is convincing in the younger years of his character and looks less and less believable as his hair changes color and the wrinkles begin to show. There is also a good amount of pop culture peppered throughout to anchor you to when the story takes place. The requisite Apple product placement comes in at right time but still looks blatant when it does.
At eight episodes, each clocking in at just about forty minutes, The Shrink Next Door feels four episodes too long. Rudd and Ferrell do their best work in the first two and final two episodes of the series with the middle chapters feeling repetitive and redundant. Had this series been condensed a bit it may have felt a bit more impactful. As it stands, the length of this series makes you hate both characters when we are really meant to sympathize with Ferrell’s Marty. By showing the lengths of how much control Dr. Ike has over him, the series just feels mean, and the ending is underwhelming. There is solid acting from these two performers as well as the supporting cast best known for their comedic work but it is buried under too much filler. While many may be entranced by this tale as they were with the podcast, most will likely find themselves waiting for a big reveal that never quite comes.
The Shrink Next Door premieres three episodes on November 12th on AppleTV+ followed by new episodes each week.