Russell Crowe's 'Memento'-Meets-'True Detective' Crime Thriller Is Coming to Paramount+

A murder mystery absolutely adores having an unreliable protagonist, for that's where a lot of the mystery can come from. And when you take away the detective's ability to trust his own memories and suddenly every clue becomes suspect, that gives you the game played by a recent Russell Crowe (Gladiator) thriller that mixes shades of Memento with the grim detective work of True Detective.

Sleeping Dogs is coming to Paramount+ in the United States on October 1. Released in 2024 and directed by Adam Cooper, the crime thriller adapts E.O. Chirovici's novel The Book of Mirrors and puts Crowe at the center of a murder investigation that he has effectively already forgotten. Former homicide detective Roy Freeman undergoes a cutting edge Alzheimer's treatment when he is asked to re-examine a brutal case from his past – the grisly murder of a renowned college professor. A death row inmate who Roy arrested ten years prior is proclaiming his innocence. Intrigued and fighting to regain his memory, Roy enlists his former partner to help him revive the investigation. This time, things unfold very differently as they close in on a magnetic and mysterious woman, Laura. When distorted layers peel back uncovering a tangled web of lies, Roy is now forced to face a horrific reality that changes his world forever.

The cast is led by Crowe as Roy Freeman alongside Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy) as Laura Baines, Marton Csokas (The Equalizer) as Dr. Joseph Wieder, Tommy Flanagan (Sons of Anarchy) as Jimmy Remis, Harry Greenwood (The Nightingale) as Richard Finn, Thomas M. Wright (Everest) as Wayne Devereaux, Elizabeth Blackmore (The Vampire Diaries) as Dana Finn, and Lynn Gilmartin (Neighbours) as Diane Lynch.

How Good Is 'Sleeping Dogs'?

Sleeping Dogs didn't become a major theatrical hit, earning only a modest sum during its limited release, and critics were divided on whether its complicated mystery ultimately paid off. Crowe's performance, however, gave the movie some additional weight, while its fractured-memory premise makes the investigation considerably less straightforward than the average procedural.

There's also a wonderfully pulpy quality to the whole thing. Almost everybody seems capable of lying, Freeman cannot rely on his own recollection of events, and the case becomes increasingly murky the deeper he gets into it.

Sleeping Dogs begins streaming on Paramount+ in the United States on October 1.