Tom Holland's The Crowded Room Sparks a Fan-Critic Showdown on Apple TV+

Tom Holland is still mostly known as Spider-Man to just about everyone, but lately, people have actually started branching out and watching some of his other work (about time). And if you got curious after the new Spider-Man: Brand New Day trailer dropped, you’re not alone. But one Holland project from outside the Marvel bubble is still sparking debate—over a year after it landed.

I’m talking about The Crowded Room on Apple TV+, which showed up in 2023 and got people arguing in all the usual circles. Some called it one of Holland’s boldest roles yet. Others just couldn’t get into it, especially critics. Naturally, that means people are still going back and forth about whether it’s actually good.

Wait, What Is The Crowded Room?

Holland leads the limited series as Danny Sullivan, a guy arrested after a shooting and hauled in for questioning by Rya Goodwin (Amanda Seyfried). The show slowly unpacks his backstory as Danny opens up in frustrating bits and pieces. If the premise feels ripped from real life, that’s because the series is inspired by the 1981 non-fiction book The Minds of Billy Milligan by Daniel Keyes—which tells the story of a guy with dissociative identity disorder (DID).

The Reception: Critics vs. Viewers

Here’s where things get messy. The show dropped as a 10-part mini-series, and if you ask critics, that was about 4–5 episodes too many. A bunch of reviewers just felt it dragged, calling it "far too long and visually repetitive." IndieWire, for example, basically said the style did the drama no favors, and the typically big-name cast should‘ve delivered a lot more fireworks than they did (their words, not mine).

But then you look at the audience reaction, and it’s a totally different story. Regular viewers seemed way more into it, especially Holland’s performance. People liked seeing him go dark and play a complex, kind of unsettling character instead of the usual wisecracking superhero stuff. If you want an example of this split: as of March 2026, Rotten Tomatoes is sitting at a wild 33% from critics… and a whopping 92% from audiences. That’s not a small gap.

The Mental Health Angle (Cue the Controversy)

The Crowded Room isn’t shy about diving deep into DID, so it got a lot of scrutiny—especially from mental health pros. Some critics called the show’s take on Danny’s condition "shallow," or dismissed it as just another "sob story." The main complaint: despite all the focus on Danny’s fractured psyche, it supposedly didn’t bring enough insight about actual mental health struggles.

On the flip side, lots of fans felt the show handled the issue pretty well—especially the way it made you question what was real and what was just in Danny’s head (the show leans way into that unreliable narrator vibe). One critic at AutoStraddle summed it up nicely: the confusion and tension is the whole point, and it's what made the show gripping in the first place.

Was it accurate about DID? Depends who you ask. People living with mental health conditions often point out that no two stories are exactly the same, so Holland’s take on Danny did ring true for quite a few viewers, at least.

The Pacing—Drawn Out or Worth the Wait?

If you’re not a fan of ‘slow burn,’ you might get impatient. Critics knocked the show for overextending the mystery—and, honestly, at ten full episodes, even patient fans might notice the story taking its sweet time. The LA Times called the series "dilut[ed] its effects" and "sap[ped] the drama of energy."

And yet, there are plenty who loved the slow reveal and the way the story pieced together its secrets. For fans, the gradual unfolding was half the fun—and the final payoff actually delivered.

"Almost three years later, audiences and critics are still divided on Tom Holland's performance in The Crowded Room."

The Cast

• Tom Holland as Danny Sullivan
• Amanda Seyfried as Rya Goodwin (his interrogator)
• Emmy Rossum as Candy Sullivan
• Sasha Lane, Will Chase, and Lior Raz (all with pretty significant roles)

So, Should You Watch It?

Whether The Crowded Room is your kind of show probably depends on how patient you are, and how much you like psychological thrillers that play tricks on you. One thing’s for sure: Tom Holland went all-in with this one, and for a lot of us, it’s worth a look just to see him flex some different acting muscles. Plus, you don’t get a 59% gap between critics and audiences every day—that alone makes me curious.

Odds are the critical view won’t change anytime soon, but frankly, that shouldn’t stop you from giving it a shot—especially if you’ve only seen Holland scrambling around in a spandex suit.