Billy Crystal is going darker than audiences have ever seen him before in "Before," a new Apple TV+ psychological thriller premiering on Friday. But it was not a role that the actor and comedian expected to take on.

The veteran comedy star plays a child psychiatrist trying to fix a very disturbed kid while grieving his wife in this 10-episode thriller.

It's disjointed in its best moments and flat-out bad in its worst, and by the end of the series, it feels like a waste of time.

Puckish American comic Billy Crystal strikes out in a new direction as the star of the limited series "Before," premiering Friday on Apple TV+. Let us say at the outset that he is completely able to handle the assignment.

Hollywood history is replete with tales of young children possessed, preyed upon, or otherwise endangered by supernatural forces beyond their control. From The Exorcist to Poltergeist to Sinister and Annabelle Comes Home,

So when we heard that Billy Crystal was going to star in a psychological thriller series for Apple TV+, we had no doubt that he’d handle the mostly-dramatic role well. BEFORE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Crystal is an interesting choice to shepherd audiences on this creepy voyage, created by Sarah Thorp. The once-boyish comic actor leans into the trauma drama, his unshaven face gray, his clothes unkempt.

The character-driven psychological thriller “Before,” starring and executive produced by award-winning actor, comedian and filmmaker Billy Crystal, debuts today on Apple TV+. The 10-episode limited series launches with the first two episodes,

Even with half-hour episodes, several coming in under the 25-minute mark, this drama still manages to drag, endlessly repeating the same setups and visual themes to buy time until an unsatisfying conclusion.

The comic actor is cast against type as a grief-stricken child therapist who takes a troubled boy under his wing