Amazon Prime Video, otherwise known by us as the new home of the thriller, has an addition to the catalogue that’s already soared up the streamer’s top 10.
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.
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.
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.
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 The Silence of the Lambs.
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.
‘Memory of a Killer is a redemptive story about a man who is losing his memory but gaining a conscience.’
Now that it’s started to get eyeballs on Prime, Memory of a Killer has racked up a raft of IMDb reviews, gaining a score of nearly seven out of 10 on the website.
Plenty of the praise goes to the Breaking Bad meets John Wick premise, as well as Dempsey’s performance, with Rod writing: ‘I got to say this is the kind of show we needed. It’s brutal, it’s dark, it’s a breath of fresh air.
‘Dempsey has always been a class act but here as Angelo he is ominous. You can’t take your eyes off him.
‘A must-watch, I don’t want to get off this rollercoaster.’
A version of this article was originally published on February 5.
The first three episodes of Memory of a Killer are available to stream on Amazon Prime Video
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