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American Horror Story: NYC Review

American Horror Story: NYC is the eleventh season of this horror anthology show that premiered on FX in 2022. It’s a surprisingly dramatic, heartbreaking season.

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“I would like to experience the liberation of banality“

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The season takes place in 1980s New York City and focuses on a string of killings involving gay men and the emergence of a new virus. This was the strangest season of AHS yet. It is not surprising to me that it led to such polarizing reception from both critics and fans, but it really deserves more appreciation for just how emotionally powerful and important it is.

This is not really a horror season per say. It is more a period drama with some strong horror overtones, but also very evident psychological thriller and even detective mystery elements in the first half. There are two distinct storylines here running concurrently with the serial killer storyline ending at halfway point and the virus storyline continuing to the very end.

As for the former, I really liked it. This was the meat of the season when it comes to your regular horror genre expectations. Jeff Hiller is terrific and very believable as this deranged, competent serial killer who was only stopped at the midpoint of the season. The show dealt so powerfully with the inherent homophobia of the police force during the eighties and how tragically gay men were left to defend on their own back then.

But the true purpose and heart of the show lies in its depiction of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. I did find the tackling of this gruesome real life tragedy better handled and more emotionally engaging in Murphy’s superb ‘Pose’, but here his approach was more horrific and detail-oriented than emotionally charged, which fitted this show like a glove.

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Many complained that this season did not have any monsters or standard horror tropes, but although I do get that frustration, I also find it ridiculous that this true horror that happened back in the eighties isn’t scary enough for modern audiences without imaginary elements to back it up. People have become really desensitized recently, which is disturbing in and of itself.

My issue wasn’t the lack of horror elements as I found the grotesque attention to detail in depicting this pandemic truly horrific. My main problem with this season is its troublesome pace and structure, which is usual for this show. Just like most previous seasons, it really ran out of gas toward its end, resulting in overly slow, meandering and artistic final two episodes that were honestly not that engaging to me. I wished that it retained its momentum until the very end, but sadly it didn’t.

American Horror Story: NYC has some disturbing imagery, excellent score and strong cinematography. The highlight is the acting as each performance is terrific from this very talented cast of gay actors. Joe Mantello was a real revelation. He was the heart and brain of this entire season. As basically the protagonist, Gino led the season toward its expected dark conclusion with so much dignity and admirable self-respect. I loved that the show focused on an older gay man as the main character and he was by far the standout.

Russell Tovey is very good as Patrick, his partner and a closeted man working in the police force. Their relationship is very well developed and quite moving. Another strong couple if the one played by the always memorable and campy Zachary Quinto and his partner also performed well by Isaac Powell.

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Denis O’Hare should not be dismissed for portraying Henry, an older mafia hitman. Even he gets humanized toward the end and he was consistently very memorable and fun/funny. Billie Lourd and Leslie Grossman were back here in smaller, but effective roles. Charlie Carver was rather boring as he always is, but Patti LuPone was as fun and as over-the-top as ever and Sandra Bernhard stole the show as a lesbian activist and fortune teller.