'The Outsider' Trailer: A Baffling Mystery Plagues Ben Mendelsohn In This Stephen King Adaptation From HBO

The Stephen King adaptation craze keeps on keepin' on with The Outsider, a new HBO series base on one of the Master of Horror's recent novels. The story concerns what appears to be an impossible murder: after a child in a small town is killed, a mountain of evidence points towards one man. The only problem is this suspect's alibi is airtight, placing him miles away from the scene of the crime. Watch The Outsider trailer below.

It's a great time to be a Stephen King fan, because every other month there's a new adaptation of one of his works. The latest is The Outsider, a new HBO series adapted from King's 2018 novel of the same name. This 10-episode adaptation follows "police detective Ralph Anderson (Ben Mendelsohn), as he sets out to investigate the mutilated body of 11-year-old Frankie Peterson found in the Georgia woods. The mysterious circumstances surrounding this horrifying crime leads Ralph, still grieving the recent death of his own son, to bring in unorthodox private investigator Holly Gibney (Cynthia Erivo), whose uncanny abilities he hopes will help explain the unexplainable."

That synopsis kind of buries the lede of what this story is about. The novel's synopsis offers more insight:

An eleven-year-old boy's violated corpse is found in a town park. Eyewitnesses and fingerprints point unmistakably to one of Flint City's most popular citizens. He is Terry Maitland, Little League coach, English teacher, husband, and father of two girls. Detective Ralph Anderson, whose son Maitland once coached, orders a quick and very public arrest. Maitland has an alibi, but Anderson and the district attorney soon add DNA evidence to go with the fingerprints and witnesses. Their case seems ironclad.

As the investigation expands and horrifying answers begin to emerge, King's propulsive story kicks into high gear, generating strong tension and almost unbearable suspense. Terry Maitland seems like a nice guy, but is he wearing another face? When the answer comes, it will shock you as only Stephen King can.

I'll confess here that while I'm one of the biggest King fans to walk this cursed earth, I didn't love The Outsider. But this adaptation looks great. Moody, creepy, and featuring a killer cast. I'm all-in. In addition to Mendelsohn and Erivo, the cast includes Bill Camp, Mare Winningham, Paddy Considine, Julianne Nicholson, Yul Vázquez, Jeremy Bobb, Marc Menchaca, and Jason Bateman. Bateman also directs the first two episodes.

The Outsider premieres on HBO January 12, 2020.