Amazon Prime Video is becoming the home of the thriller, following up its latest additions Steal and Hotel Costiera with a new entry launching today.
With a premise that is guaranteed to raise eyebrows, Memory of a Killer revolves around a later-in-life hitman who begins to develop dementia.
Inspired by the 2003 Belgian film De Zaak Alzheimer, which slightly gives the game away in the title, the new ten-parter stars Patrick Dempsey (aka neurosurgeon Dr Shepherd for the Grey’s cohort) as the assassin Angelo Ledda.
Given his day job, the stakes of his diagnosis are high. Worst still, because he’s kept his New York killing career from his family, based upstate in Cooperstown. They believe he’s a (fake-sounding job klaxon here) photocopier salesman.
Then he finds evidence that his late wife’s death might not have been as accidental as it seemed, shortly before his pregnant daughter Maria is targeted too.
The compartmentalised dual lives Angelo has been living start to bleed into one another.
The show was commissioned and first aired on Fox in the US; it was dubbed ‘propulsive’ and ‘edge-of-your-seat’ stuff in their initial announcement of the series.
The Fox statement teased: ‘Angelo must stop whoever’s coming for his family by searching his past hits for clues, and the list is very long.’
It continued, deep breath for this one: ‘Now Angelo must hunt down his mortal enemy while continuing to carry out hits without giving away his diagnosis and still making it home in time to cook dinner for his daughter.
What other shows can you watch on Amazon Prime?
- Steal. Ordinary office worker Zara (Sophie Turner) becomes entangled in a major heist at work alongside her best friend.
- Fallout. The post-apocalyptic saga is an adaptation of the hugely popular video game.
- Clarice. A spin-off series for the widely-acclaimed Silence of the Lambs.
‘Memory of a Killer is a redemptive story about a man who is losing his memory but gaining a conscience.’
Dempsey co-stars alongside TV legend Michael Imperioli (Christopher, in a New Jersey accent, from The Sopranos).
This apple doesn’t fall far from that tree, because here Imperioli plays Italian chef Dutch Forlanni, whose supposed restaurant is actually a front for shady goings-ons.
Dutch is Angelo’s oldest pal but also his boss, who supplies him with the list for his future kills.
Memory of a Killer launches with two episodes on Amazon Prime Video today, followed by an episode release schedule.
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