DTF St. Louis

A strange, surreal, surpassingly dark addition to Bateman’s œuvre. He’s cast well in the show—I can’t imagine it working without his presence, reeking of ennui and buried impulses. .... Clark Forrest, a local celebrity owing to his job, is like an updated, puzzlingly childlike Cheeverian confection.

As much as “DTF St. Louis” suggests that loneliness and the absence of healthy, rewarding male friendships are a pox on American men, the show likewise critiques paths that lead them to damnation: social media apps that crater one’s confidence with arguably greater efficacy than fulfilling the “social” part of the label.

Everyone here has an odd, difficult part – especially once the whimsy has worn off – and making them congruent as well as believable individually is an achievement all of its own. You may well find yourself DTFinishing the whole thing in a single watch.

Conrad writes most acutely when he’s sitting in the malaise of midlife, probing the gallows-humor resignation to the reality that few people’s lives turn out the way they wanted. .... A more confident show, or a more honest one, might have stuck with that feeling, rather than ginning up a plot better suited for a true-crime podcast. But maybe it’s the final proof of the characters’ banality that not even a murder mystery can make them interesting.

DTF St. Louis is definitely a little weird at the start, but viewers’ patience will be rewarded with a quirky but interesting mystery starting in Episode 2.

The tone is low-key and Midwestern. Sex runs through the series, always coming with a hefty dose of awkwardness. The performances are great, but ultimately the whole thing tries too hard to be quirky and offbeat.

Those who want to scratch their “White Lotus” itch without the mouth-watering scenery should be “DTW” (that is, Down to Watch).

“DTF St. Louis” has a bit of the feel of a character piece about midlife mores smushed into the currently more commercial format of the crime-based limited series. It might not satisfy fans of that genre, while if anything, I found myself wanting it weirder and less bound by its format.

The opening hours, presented in more comedic terms, are a little funny, but not in a way that left me demonstrably laughing. The next two hours, presented in more dramatic terms, are humane, but not in a way that quite reaches poignancy.

DTF is a tricky show, one whose apparent inconsistencies might turn out to be deliberate choices. It has an offbeat, sometimes surreal sense of humor. The writing and acting alternate between stylized stiffness and heartwrenching realism.

If it were solely a series about sex, the tender yet confounding “DTF St. Louis” would be one cool piece of work. .... Usually, one would have a pretty solid idea of where things were headed after watching more than half a series. Yet “DTF St. Louis” is so emotionally elusive I’m less confident than usual in my clairvoyance.

For a show that’s routinely funny and intriguing, DTF St. Louis is startlingly insightful and moving.

While it never succumbs to the bloat so common in the genre, there are times when the pace feels designed more for stretching out to a season than it should, but they’re just far enough apart to never completely derail momentum.

“DTF” is a funny, lurid and creepingly compassionate watch.

HBO only sent four of seven episodes for review, but if it sticks the landing — and it probably will — it will be one of the best shows of the year.

Somewhere along the way, the show’s cringe comedy gives way to sincerity and our pity evolves into genuine empathy. And the longer we spend with this group of goofy, hopeless characters, the more grateful we are that we didn’t give in to that initial impulse to swipe left.

“DTF St. Louis” breaks down its crude acronym until it isn’t disagreeable anymore. At times, it’s downright aspirational. Perhaps best of all, it’s also very, very funny.

This is a very assured show, the kind where a left-field backstory or character trait doesn’t come off like a tacked-on quirk or distraction but rather the heart of what makes it so wonderful to watch in the first place.

It's a shame that the show's murder-mystery elements slip too far into by-the-numbers territory, as the large bulk of DTF St. Louis is another sharply written and consistently engaging miniseries that HBO should be proud of.