Just how expensive was Mindhunter, really? Netflix has probably spent a fortune on similar shows over the years, including a (probably) very expensive franchise orchestrated by Ryan Murphy. And yet, despite having cultivated an organic following over the years, a third season of David Fincher‘s psychological thriller series remains elusive. The filmmaker has himself admitted, more than once, that the series was simply too costly to justify itself. Which means that audiences will have to make do with alternatives. The latest in Netflix’s continuing streak of Mindhunter-inspired investigative thrillers is the Italian miniseries The Monster of Florence, which became a bona fide global streaming sensation immediately after its debut.
Based on Italy’s most infamous serial killings, the four-episode series is directed by Stefano Sollima, who is probably best known for helming Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado. Sollima also directed the Michael B. Jordan vehicle Without Remorse, which, like Sicario 2, was co-written by streaming mogul Taylor Sheridan. The Monster of Florence reunites Sollima with writer Leonardo Fasoli, with whom he created Gomorrah and ZeroZeroZero, his two previous television outings. Set across several decades, the show traces the investigation into a string of double homicides that rocked the city of Florence from the 1960s to the 1980s.
According to FlixPatrol, The Monster of Florence was the most-watched show on the global Netflix charts on October 23, pushing the holdover hits Boots, The Diplomat, No One Saw Us Leave, and Monster: The Ed Gein Story down the leader board. Unlike its American counterpart, which debuted on the back of a massive marketing campaign, The Monster of Florence had a rather low-key rollout. The show received mixed reviews, and is currently sitting at a 63% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.
‘The Monster of Florence’ Gives Early Fincher
In his review, Collider’s Samuel R. Murrian described the show as “a frightening and impressively thoughtful exploration of what kind of mind could conceivably carry out serial murder,” and wrote that it “is a vastly superior and more thematically responsible project” than Murphy’s third installment of Monster, which opened to criticism, like its two predecessors, for its perceived glorification of criminal behavior. The Monster of Florence is understandably drawing comparisons to Fincher’s work in the genre, including not only Mindhunter but also classics such as Zodiac and Se7en. You can watch the series on Netflix, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Release Date
2025 – 2025-00-00
Network
Netflix
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Nicole Grimaudo
Uncredited
