Billy Crystal stars as Eli Adler, a child psychologist coming to terms with grief, in the Apple TV+ drama series Before. Created by Sarah Thorp, the show explores Eli’s struggle to move on from his wife Lynn’s recent suicide and the mysterious connection that develops when troubled young boy Noah suddenly enters his life. As Eli works to understand Noah’s experiences, he finds uncanny echoes from the boy’s visions in his own memories and nightmares relating to Lynn’s passing.
While known best for his comedic roles, Crystal delivers a nuanced leading performance here. He portrays Eli as a man wrestling with trauma and denial, seeking answers about Lynn that even his therapist can’t provide.
As Eli works with Noah, trying to communicate with the nonverbal child, secrets from his past seem determined to surface. Their growing bond forms the core mystery driving this psychological thriller spanning 10 episodes.
Shot with a gloomy, atmospheric style, Before delves into themes of loss and the mind’s glimpses of truth beyond conventional understanding. Now, Crystal sinks into a new dramatic depth to lead this Apple TV+ series into uncharted emotional territory.
Unraveling Connections
The series introduces us to Eli Adler, a child psychologist in New York who’s still deeply grieving the suicide of his wife Lynn months earlier. Her long battle with cancer had taken a toll on both of them. Eli remains haunted by finding Lynn in their bathtub, struggling with flashbacks and an inability to move past her death. He spends his days aimlessly drifting through routines.
Then one night, Eli finds a young boy named Noah scratching at his front door. When he follows Noah home, he discovers the child doesn’t speak and lives with his frazzled foster mother, Denise. Noah often experiences disturbing visions that frighten those around him. Later, when Eli’s colleague seeks his help with a difficult case, it turns out to be Noah.
As Eli works with Noah, uncanny links begin surfacing between the boy’s experiences and details from Eli’s past with Lynn. Noah has been drawing sketches of a farmhouse that matches a photo in Eli’s home. Their recurring nightmares also mirror each other in disturbing ways. Yet Noah insists he and Eli have met before and that Eli caused him harm.
When Noah attacks a classmate, he’s hospitalized, speaking an ancient dialect of Dutch. Eli investigates with his linguist friend’s help but soon focuses more on his connection with Noah than the boy’s treatment. As Eli’s daughter and colleagues grow wary of his unpredictable behavior, his sessions with Noah devolve into a desperate pursuit for answers.
Revelations begin emerging that Lynn kept profound secrets from Eli, involving her ex and a tragedy from years ago. Pieces gradually align, linking Eli, Lynn, and Noah across time in disturbing ways. But the nature of their connection and how much is supernatural versus psychosis remain ambiguous until the later episodes’ murky conclusion. As threads weave together, Eli’s grasp on reality seems to fray, leaving viewers to question how much is real and how much is in Eli’s mind.
Crafting a Cohesive Vision
Sarah Thorp’s direction in Before works to envelop viewers in a somber atmosphere from the beginning. Cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung frames shots in tight close-ups and dimly lit interiors that reinforce the sense of suffocating grief clouding Eli’s world. Natural light seeps through windows like an intrusion rather than relief.
Exteriors shot on location in New York emphasize the isolation of Eli’s neighborhood. His apartment takes on an almost claustrophobic quality. Nathan Halpern’s unsettling score pulses just below scenes, turning ordinary noises into intrusions on Eli’s fragile state of mind. Visual effects in Noah’s hallucinations materialize abstract fears into horrifying tangibility.
Edited together by Andy Miller, the pieces effectively maintain suspenseful tensions. Transitions flow cleanly to immerse the audience rather than clarify context. Locations become characters in their own right, from Eli’s bath haunting him to the state hospital bearing down on Noah. Flashbacks to Eli and Lynn’s past feel seamlessly woven into the fabric of Eli’s unraveling memories.
Here, the technical elements serve the interiority of the story. Crystal anchors everything with a performance of vulnerable subtlety. Jupe matches his nuance with unflinching courage. Their expressions communicate what words leave unsaid. Light imbues Lynn with mysterious complexity, even in fleeting appearances. Supporting talents like Sakina Jaffrey steadying anchor Eli when he drifts too far off course.
Together, the creative team crafts an unblinking vision where intimacy breeds deeper mysteries. Authentic production values never call attention to themselves but fully immerse us in Eli’s haunted perceptions. Their cohesion helps transmute vague expressions of mental tribulation into visceral lived-in reality on screen.
Peeling Back the Layers
In Before, Eli Adler and Noah are far more than just the central figures; they essentially represent the soul of the story. Eli remains haunted by his inability to ease Lynn’s suffering before her death and now finds mysterious connections between her secrets and Noah materializing.
At first, Eli approaches Noah with skepticism as a rational psychologist. But as glimpses of the boy’s uncanny knowledge stir long-buried doubts within Eli, we see the walls around his heart beginning to crack. Crystal brings layers of trauma, denial, and quiet desperation to the surface in these unfolding moments of vulnerability.
Meanwhile, young Jacobi Jupe carries an immense challenge in making Noah’s disorder feel authentically vivid without words. His physical performance powerfully brings viewers into the character’s spells in a way that evades comforting logic. In these scenes and Noah’s drawings, we glimpse nightmare images that disturb on a primal level.
In contrast to Eli’s daughter, who sees his actions as a mental break, Denise advocates for Noah despite her own fears for his care. These dynamic female characters acknowledge the audiences own doubts about this unusual case unfolding.
While some find inconsistencies in Eli’s arc, appreciate how this piece explores the human capacity to rationalize private anguish. Perhaps no character operates on a single note or motivation. In the complex relationship between Eli and Noah, we see pieces of ourselves seeking understanding in a world where certainty cannot be assumed.
Reflections of the Mind
Before delves into complex themes of grief, guilt, and the human psyche. At its core, it’s a study of how trauma manifests and lingers in the mind.
Eli remains shackled by anguish over finding Lynn and their haunted past. His recurring nightmares of plunging into an empty pool represent his willingness to escape painful realities. Meanwhile, Noah’s vivid hallucinations stand in for unseen emotions too troublesome for a child to grasp.
Their bond centers around a mysterious farmhouse that holds unspoken significance. Like ruminations that resurface uninvited, the image comes to dominate their connection in a haunting metaphor.
Eli’s denial and rationalizations and Noah’s wordless struggles mirror how the psyche protects itself from overwhelming truths. Dreams, visions, and suppressed memories find abstract means of breaching internal defenses.
Recurrent sounds of dripping become torment in their suggestion of what can’t be drained away. Even subtle details like the bathroom door take on layered resonance.
If the answers feel intangible, perhaps that’s the point. Mental well-being defies simple explanations. Grappling with grief, trauma, and identity are lifelong puzzles with no clear solutions.
Before offers no easy catharsis, much as life seldom provides concrete resolutions. It instead reflects an insight many works shy from—that inner peace stems from accepting life’s ambiguities within ourselves and each other.
Peeling Back the Narrative Layers
Before weaves an atmosphere of intrigue from the first scene, drawing viewers deep into Eli’s fractured psyche. His connection with Noah opens a well of mysteries that keep expectations high.
Yet over time, certain narrative choices start to show cracks. Revelations feel pulled from thin air instead of clues carefully strewn. Logic buckles under mounting plot twists where subtler developments could have sufficed.
Where the early episodes balance dwelling in emotion with doling out context, later installments lose sight of Eli beyond his role in the overarching puzzle. Supporting figures are reduced to devices that come and go, leaving some resolutions disappointingly shallow.
Pacing also hinders the story’s potential. Stretching over 10 episodes, pressing forward feels like floundering at times. Viewers identify with Eli’s desperate demands for answers more than his wellbeing.
While the thematic substance of interpersonal bonds transcending time appeals, crafting it coherently challenges even an ambitious limited series. Possibly trimming events could have focused character-driven depth over fantastical spectacle.
Still, glimmers of Before’s vivid creative spirit remain in stirring sequences like Noah and Eli’s initial encounter. How its vision might have shone with refinement leaves room for intrigue, much like the questions its narrative raises lingering long after.
Lingering Reflections
Overall, Billy Crystal delivers a committed performance in Before that keeps viewers invested, despite flaws in the narrative that strain believability. His emotionally raw portrayal of Eli’s lingering anguish and desperate search for closure proves powerful at times.
Meanwhile, talented child actor Jupe brings similarly grave nuance to Noah, a character peering through the prism of a troubled young mind. Visually, the production establishes a brooding atmosphere, even if aesthetic choices become excessive.
However, spreading thin character development and plot points across a lengthy runtime dilutes the story’s impact. Unresolved threads and poor pacing undermine a coherent conclusion that satisfies most.
While unflinchingly exploring thorny issues of grief and the human psyche, Before sometimes prioritizes abstraction over cohesion. Still, it merits appreciation for ambitious themes not always granted screen time.
Ultimately, this limited series seems an uneven yet earnest dive into darkness most creators shy from illuminating. Recommended in part for fostering discussion, yet not essential viewing. Comparably moody works like The Sinner handle similar material with tighter storytelling.
In the end, Before leaves impressions of unrealized potential clouded by narrative indulgence. But its willingness to probe shadows of the human condition where many fear to tread remains laudable.
The Review
Before
With an all-star lead performance from Billy Crystal anchoring its unconventional psychological mysteries, Before showcases ambition in grappling with complex themes of grief and the mind. However, by stretching its conceptual ideas across a lengthened episodic structure, the production ultimately allows its compelling setup to buckle under an inelegant unraveling. Crystal's nuanced vulnerability deserves a tighter narrative to fully support his emotional prowess.
PROS
- Committed lead performance from Billy Crystal
- Ambitious exploration of complex themes like grief, guilt, and the mind
- Strong production values in establishing a moody atmosphere
CONS
- Story structure strains beliefability with poor pacing.
- Character inconsistencies undermine narrative cohesion.
- Lacks satisfying payoff due to overly vague resolution
