''Before'' is an American

psychological thriller Psychological thriller is a Film genre, genre combining the thriller (genre), thriller and psychological fiction genres. It is commonly used to describe literature or films that deal with psychological narratives in a thriller or thrilling setting ...

television

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

created by Sarah Thorp, who also serves as

showrunner A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...

and is an executive producer, along with

Billy Crystal William Edward Crystal (born March 14, 1948)On page 17 of his book ''700 Sundays'', Crystal displays his birth announcement, which gives his first two names as "William Edward", not "William Jacob" is an American comedian, actor, and filmmaker. ...

, Adam Bernstein, Eric Roth, and Jet Wilkinson. It stars Billy Crystal as a child psychiatrist, and features Judith Light, Rosie Perez, and Jacobi Jupe. ''Before'' premiered on October 25, 2024, on

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription over-the-top streaming service owned by Apple. The service launched on November 1, 2019, and it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service w ...

Premise

A recently widowed child psychiatrist named Eli meets with his next client, Noah, who mysteriously shows up at his house and appears to know things about him. The child appears to have psychotic episodes that result in harm to himself or others, but the psychiatrist senses something in these episodes that appear to point to a "source" which the psychiatrist appears to relate to.

Cast

Main

as Eli * Jacobi Jupe as Noah * Maria Dizzia as Barbara * Ava Lalezarzadeh as Cleo * Rosie Perez as Denise * Judith Light as Lynn

Recurring

* Sakina Jaffrey as Gail * Robert Townsend as Jackson * Miriam Shor as Sue Ann * Rebecca Ruane as Sophie * Hope Davis as Dr. Jane

Guest

* Julia Chan as Therapist *

Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman (; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist. He has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that have included a state dinner for Elizabeth II at the White House in 2007, and at the First ina ...

as Drake * Delia Cunningham as Shift Nurse * Barbara Bain as Ruth * Will Hochman as Benjamin Walker *

Jennifer Esposito Jennifer Esposito (born April 11, 1973) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in the feature films ''Summer of Sam'' (1999), ''Don't Say a Word'' (2001), ''The Master of Disguise'' (2002), ''Welcome to Collinwood'' (2002), ''Crash (2 ...

as Psychic * Lenny Venito as Lawrence * Stephen Wallem as Charlie * Kineta Kunutu as Doctor

Episodes

Production

It was announced in June 2022 that

had ordered the series, which

would star in and

Barry Levinson Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Levinson won the Academy Award for Best Director for '' Rain Man'' (1988). His other best-known works are ''Diner'' (1982), '' The Natural'' (1984 ...

would direct. In December 2023, Judith Light joined the cast, with Adam Bernstein now set to direct the pilot episode, as Levinson had to exit the project. In January 2024, Rosie Perez, Jacobi Jupe, Maria Dizzia, Ava Lalezarzadeh would be added to the main cast, with Hope Davis joining in a recurring capacity. Filming had begun on the series under the name ''Winston'' in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

by May 2023. In June, it was announced it had entered an indefinite hiatus amidst the

2023 Writers Guild of America strike From May 2 to September 27, 2023, the Writers Guild of America (WGA)—representing 11,500 screenwriters—went on Strike action, strike over a labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Lasting 148 days, ...

. Upon the strike's conclusion, the series resumed filming in December in Moonachie, New Jersey. It filmed in

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the ...

, in January 2024, and later in Independence Township, New Jersey in March.

Reception

The

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website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reported a 32% approval rating with an average rating of 5.2/10, based on 31 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Starring

playing against type, ''Before'' initially intrigues but doesn't bring enough ideas or variety to sustain what comes after."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 46 out of 100 based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.

References

External links

* {{Apple TV+ 2024 American television series debuts American English-language television shows American thriller television series Apple TV+ original programming Psychological thriller television series Television series by Paramount Television Television shows affected by the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike Television shows filmed in New Jersey