Dr Rowan Fielding (Alexandra Daddario) is a gifted surgeon with two problems. The first is her daily struggle to be taken seriously by her job. The second is the discovery that her mother’s cancer has returned. But as she struggles to deal with this she discovers other, darker problems. Like the truth about her childhood, the mysterious man who keeps appearing to her and the fact she may be able to kill people with her mind…

The second Anne Rice show to launch doesn’t have the critical cachet of Interview with the Vampire but does have a strong cast and endless confidence. The key to this is Daddario, a gifted comic actress with the dramatic skills to play a character who is brittle but not weak. Rowan isn’t especially likable but she’s endlessly sympathetic and Daddario plays the slow realisation of just what’s going on very well. The rest of the cast impress, especially Erica Gimpel as Rowan’s adopted mother and character acting legend Beth Grant as Carlotta, her aunt. Jack Huston’s fun too as Lasher, the possibly demonic presence tied to the family. But so far, this is Daddario’s show and that’s no bad thing.

There’s some fun script beats too, including a flashback sequence that wraps around and informs the main plot. It’s a show doing a lot of work in a small space and most of that work is really good.

But not quite all of it. The tone is a little janky and there are moments where the ship shifts from grim to camp to needlessly OTT. In particular, Harry Hamlin as the Mayfair family patriarch feels like he’s wandered in from another show, at least so far.

Verdict: Despite that, this is a strong start for the show. There’s lots here for urban fantasy and horror fans and a welcome sense of a show knowing exactly where it’s going. 7/10

Alasdair Stuart