‘The Patient’ Trailer: Steve Carell Is Held Captive by Domhnall Gleeson (VIDEO)

Steve Carell in The Patient
FX

“My whole life, I have been trying to figure myself out so I can help other people understand themselves so they can have good relationships, and here I am,” therapist Alan Strauss (Steve Carell) says in the trailer for FX’s psychological thriller, The Patient (premiering August 30 on Hulu).

Well, he’s going to have a bigger problem on his hands with one patient, Sam Fortner (Domhnall Gleeson), who comes to him for help because “I’m not normal. I need to get better.” As Alan sees it, “Anyone who has come this far, who has made the choice to come to therapy and keep hammering away at the hard things, they can be helped.”

But as Sam further explains, once he has Alan chained up and held captive, “I have a compulsion to kill people. Should I tell you more about my life?” Watch the trailer below for more for a glimpse of what is definitely not a “safe environment, without anything like fear hanging over every session,” which Alan says is required for successful therapy.

The Patient follows Alan and Sam, who has an unusual therapeutic demand: curb his homicidal urges. In order to survive, the therapist must unwind his patient’s disturbed mind and stop him from killing again… but Sam refuses to address critical topics, like his mother Candace (Linda Emond). Alone in captivity, Alan excavates his own past through memories of his old therapist, Charlie (David Alan Grier), and grapples with waves of his own repressed troubles: the recent death of his wife, Beth (Laura Niemi), and the painful estrangement from his religious son, Ezra (Andrew Leeds).

During his imprisonment, Alan uncovers not only how deep Sam’s compulsion runs, but also how much work he has to do to repair the rift in his own family. With time running out, Alan fights desperately to stop Sam before Alan becomes complicit in Sam’s murders or worse — becomes a target himself.

Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg serve as writers and executive produce with Carell, Caroline Moore, Victor Hsu, and Chris Long. The 10-episode limited series is produced by FX Productions.

The Patient, Series Premiere, Tuesday, August 30, Hulu