The true story behind the tight room explained

The cramped room is an Apple TV+ miniseries that premiered in June 2023 and is based on a true, believable and psychologically distressing story. Based on the non-fiction novel, The thoughts of Billy Milligan, The cramped room is a 10-part series with an all-star cast including Tom Holland, Amanda Seyfried, Emily Rossum, Sasha Lane, Will Chase and Lior Raz. The series follows Donnie Sullivan (Holland), a young man who was arrested for his participation in a shooting in New York City in 1979. His story is told through interviews with interrogator Rhea Goodwin (Seyfried).

Despite the talent involved, including an impressive performance by Tom Holland as Danny, The cramped room Was not well received by critics, earning a 33% on Rotten tomatoes. 10 episodes proved to be a bit too long for some viewers who felt like the series spun its wheels. Even so, there was enough interest in the series that a sequel season to The cramped room was banded about. The true story that The cramped room is based on is a fascinating one, and The fictionalized version leaves out some interesting moments in the real Danny’s life.

The Tight Room is based on the true story of Billy Milligan

The series is based on The Minds of Billy Milligan by Daniel Keyes

as mentioned, The cramped room is based on the 1981 novel, The thoughts of Billy Milliganby Daniel Keyes. This non-fiction novel tells the story of the real Billy Milligan, an American man born in Miami in 1955 (via The Columbus Dispatch). After Billy’s father died, his mother moved him around from state to state before finally settling in Lancaster, Ohio. This book based on his life, it is important to note, is not a completely true story, often described as a non-fiction novel. Keyes wrote his book based on interviews with Billy and crafted a particularly sympathetic portrait (by SlashFilm).

In 1977, 22-year-old Billy Milligan was arrested and charged with kidnapping, robbing, and raping three women near the Ohio State University campus (via. Time). The attacks are said to have taken place between October 14 and October 26 (via The Columbus Dispatch). That same year, Milligan was in prison for robbery, and he had previously been convicted of rape by this point. After Milligan was identified in a mugshot, he was brought in for a psychological evaluation.

Milligan’s lawyers successfully argued an insanity defense

Billy Milligan was diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder

The psychologists noticed Milligan was exhibiting signs of dissociative identity disorder (DID) during their evaluation. Milligan claimed that “Rogen”, a 23-year-old with a Slavic accent, robbed the women, and “Adolana”, a 19-year-old lesbian, was responsible for violating them. The psychologists eventually determined that Milligan had 10 personalities and officially diagnosed him with DID, formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder. He would lIt should be diagnosed with 14 personalities. During the investigation, the doctors learned from Milligan, or from one of his personalities, that in 1963 Milligan’s mother married Chalmer Milligan. According to Milligan, Chalmer sexually and physically abused his stepson.

It was at this point, psychiatrists determined, that Milligan’s personality began to split. Milligan had a difficult life as a teenager, getting kicked out of high school, joining and leaving the Navy, and more, which doctors pointed to as evidence of his split personality. In December 1978, Milligan was acquitted of his crimes by reason of insanity caused by dissociative identity disorder. It was the first ruling of its kind and the outcome is still shrouded in controversy.

Billy Milligan was sent to state-run psychiatric hospitals

Milligan escaped from a hospital in 1986

After the ruling, Milligan was institutionalized in state-run psychiatric hospitals for several years. Then, on July 4, 1986, he escaped from the Central Ohio Psychiatric Hospital and reappeared in Bellingham, Washington, under the alias Christopher Carr. He even left videotapes at a Greyhound bus station for the media to find, in which he complained about his treatment at the psychiatric facilities. Milligan lived with a man named Michael Pierce Madden in Washington and, in September 1986, Madden went missing (via Mashable).

Milligan was picked up in Florida by police a few months later. Although he sold Madden’s car and paid Madden’s disability checks, the police could not come up with enough evidence to charge Milligan with murdering Madden, so Milligan was sent back to the psychiatric hospital. Milligan was discharged in 1988 after psychiatrists determined that his multiple personalities had fused into a single, harmless person thanks to therapy. He then underwent outpatient mental treatment beforehand He was released from all state supervision in August 1991.

After 1991, Milligan more or less disappeared, with his name only rarely appearing in the news. In 1996, a California judge declared him incompetent to manage his own affairs. Later, still The thoughts of Billy Milligan came out, the state of Ohio sued him for royalties to repay the money spent on his treatment.

Milligan declared bankruptcy in San Diego but got out of it in 2000, but was not heard from for some time after that. In 2015, it was revealed that Milligan died of cancer in a Columbus, Ohio hospital. He was 59 and had lived with his sister Cathy for at least five years (via LATimes).

Everything the tight spot changes about the Billy Milligan Story

The tight spot introduces fictional characters

While The cramped room is not a one-on-one recreation of The Billy Milligan The story, it is clear that the miniseries takes inspiration from the real person, even if his name is changed to Danny Sullivan. For one, there is no Rhea Godwin character, played by Seyfried, in the actual Billy Milligan story. Researchers conducted interviews with MilliganBut there was not one person who made it their mission to save a person they believed was innocent over a sense of morality.

The cramped room Also features a character named Annabelle Stone (Emma Laird) who serves as a heart, happy memory for Danny. As far as the real story goes, there is no one from Milligan’s past like Annabelle, although it is possible that he had an actual relationship with a school friend when he was younger.

Like the book it’s based on, The cramped room Paint an exceptionally positive picture of the accused person in the center. It may be true that Danny in The cramped room And Billy Milligan in real life, were as much victims of DID as others were, but it’s also crucial to remember that real people were hurt. Their stories are generally not the focus of fictional retelling or the true story, but when it comes to considering what is real and what is not, it cannot be denied that people are hurt.