Bellevue

Bellevue isn’t trying to break the mold of a closed-ended mystery, but it does offer a riff on it that manages to be both cozily predictable and refreshingly contemporary. ... It presents its characters with texture and range; meaning that even when it missteps, it still finds a way to make you care.

You can keep “The Alienist” at arm’s length because it is set more than 100 years in the past. No such luck with “Bellevue.” The brutality, shock and outrage ring all too true.

Some civic sociology is advanced--Bellevue is depressed, a brewery offers a chance of recovery--but never really developed. There are things that please, most of which have to do with Paquin.

It’s handsomely shot, competently directed and, when the writing allows, generally well acted. But it’s markedly derivative. ... What ended up onscreen is a half-sketched, formulaic character that Ms. Paquin can only occasionally make convincing.

Bellevue plays like a watered-down version of “The Killing.”