By Daria Burnley
On Jan. 17, FX premiered season two of American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace. The dramatic show follows the true events leading up to and after the murder of fashion icon Gianni Versace in 1997, exploring the characters of the Versace family and the murderer. Director Andrew Murphy pulled together an almost look alike cast to the screen with Edgar Ramirez playing Gianni Versace, Penelope Cruz playing Donatella Versace, and Darren Criss as Andrew Cunanan. The show also reveals the culture of homophobia in the 1990s that distorted the relationship between Versace and Cunanan. Compared to the previous season The People v OJ Simpson, which stuck closely to the true story, season two relies heavily on creating an overly dramatic recreation of events; however, the show still does an excellent job at telling the story of fashion, homophobia, murder, and fame. Murphy has created a clear Emmy grab with his visually appealing cinematography framing Versace’s South Beach Villa to counter Cunanan’s violent killing spree. The Assassination of Gianni Versace continues to air every Wednesday on FX at 10 p.m.