Critic Reviews

“The Assassination of Gianni Versace” is more personal and heartfelt than Murphy’s “The People v. O.J. Simpson,” and proves that when it comes to seductive allure laced with menace, no one in TV is Murphy’s match.

I’m not sure The Assassination of Gianni Versace manages to add contemporary political and cultural resonance to its serial killer story as effectively [as The People v. O.J. Simpson]. ... But The Assassination of Gianni Versace is nonetheless extremely insightful, as well as consistently entertaining.

Because it’s so great at reclaiming an era we almost forgot, The Assassination of Gianni Versace easily stands as first must-see offering of 2018. It checks all the boxes needed for the perfect winter miniseries and there’s not an inch of it that isn’t stylish.

Versace marries the extravagant with the violent. Even when the series stretches its plot too thin, bold direction mostly makes up for it, ensuring that there is always something to look at, either beautiful or repulsive. The series is grounded by sublime performances from its cast.

To me, the show is both balm and menace, lurid exploitation and primal scream. The series doesn’t have the seismic, prestige heft of People v. O.J., and it doesn’t share its forebear’s piercing intelligence. But in its messy and obliterating swirl, The Assassination of Gianni Versace does something ambitious and rattling. It frames a gay disaster as an intrinsically American one, binding personal values with national ones, tethering one sense of self-worth to another.

“Versace" is not perfect--some episodes meander a bit and anytime the story takes viewers back to Versace and away from the other victims, it becomes less compelling--but it marks an early, strong entry for one of the best series of 2018.

The Assassination of Gianni Versace is a formidable piece of work, brilliant in its characterizations and harrowing in its depictions of the amorality of American culture's dark underside.

Although her time on-screen is limited, Cruz makes some strong impressions as the ever-demanding Donatella Versace.

More saliently, the heavy-handedness slows down the story--or belies the fact that compared to “The People v. O.J. Simpson,” “The Assassination of Gianni Versace” has much less story to tell. ... But with an array of fantastic performances and an eye to exploring the complexity of contemporary queerness, American Crime Story has produced another interesting history play to chew on--one with a lingering, intriguing aftertaste.

The narrative focus on Cunanan--he’s the story--is what holds this 10-part saga together, and it does so compellingly throughout.