# American Crime Story (2016)

> An anthology series that dramatizes famous real-life criminal investigations, each season retelling a different case with a new ensemble.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/57078

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 29
- Episode runtime: 51 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama
- Created by: Larry Karaszewski, Scott Alexander, Tom Rob Smith, Sarah Burgess
- Network: FX
- Cast: Sterling K. Brown, Edgar Ramírez, Kenneth Choi, Darren Criss, Beanie Feldstein, Ricky Martin, Christian Clemenson, Sarah Paulson
- TMDB rating: 8.4/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2788432/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: grim, anxious, serious, tense, restrained

## What critics say

Acclaimed as a meticulously crafted anthology that reconstructs famous criminal cases with dramatic precision, strong performances, and sharp attention to the media and social context around each story.

## Synopsis

American Crime Story (2016-2021) is a US prestige true crime anthology series created by Larry Karaszewski, Scott Alexander, Tom Rob Smith and Sarah Burgess for FX. Each season rebuilds a different famous criminal case as a self-contained story across roughly ten episodes. The first season follows the murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace (Edgar Ramírez) by Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss), with the lover Antonio D'Amico (Ricky Martin) and designer Donatella Versace (Penélope Cruz) pulled into the aftermath. The second season turns to the 1990s Los Angeles trial of O. J. Simpson, where prosecutor Christopher Darden (Sterling K. Brown) fights a legal machine while judge Lance Ito (Kenneth Choi) presides over a courtroom turned into a media spectacle. The third season follows the White House scandal involving Monica Lewinsky (Beanie Feldstein) and Linda Tripp (Sarah Paulson). The engine of each season is the pressure of public scrutiny on private lives, with courtrooms, tabloid headlines and tense interviews shaping every episode. The tone is grim, anxious and serious, with a restrained, detailed texture. Fans of The People v. O. J. Simpson, The Jinx and Fargo will find resonance in its blend of real events, sharp performances and dark irony.

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