# The Original Monster (2025)

> A dramatized miniseries following the infamous Wisconsin grave robber and killer Ed Gein and the mother who shaped him.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/192484

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 8
- Episode runtime: 58 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama, horror
- Created by: Ian Brennan
- Network: Netflix
- Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Suzanna Son, Vicky Krieps, Laurie Metcalf, Nick Carpenter, Hudson Oz, Potsch Boyd, Ezra Buzzington
- TMDB rating: 7.3/10

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: extreme
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: graphic
- Tone: grim, morbid, unsettling, bleak, sensationalized

## What critics say

Viewers rate the miniseries positively for its high-quality craft and lead performance, while finding its sensational and morbid treatment of a real killer divisive.

## Synopsis

Monster: The Ed Gein Story (2025) is a US true crime miniseries created by Ian Brennan and produced by Ryan Murphy Television for Netflix. Charlie Hunnam plays Ed Gein, the Wisconsin grave robber and murderer whose crimes inspired many of Hollywood's most iconic screen killers, with Laurie Metcalf as his domineering mother Augusta and Suzanna Son as Adeline Watkins, a figure drawn into his orbit. Vicky Krieps appears as Ilse Koch. The eight-episode limited series, running about 58 minutes per episode, is set in mid-century Wisconsin during the years around and after the Second World War, following the slow rot of a small farming household and the investigation that follows. Its engine is the tension between a son's fragile psyche and a mother's suffocating control, with each episode peeling back another layer of the crimes. The tone is grim, morbid and unflinching, closer to a psychological thriller than a procedural, and it leans on period detail and disquieting atmosphere. Fans of Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and Mindhunter will find resonance here, as will viewers drawn to the roots of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The series suits viewers who can stomach brutal true crime and disturbing domestic horror.

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