The Staircase (2022): Season 1

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Ratings

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7.7

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7.7	Your Score
7.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Ratings

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The Staircase

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Season Details & Credits

HBO Max | Season Premiere Date: May 5, 2022

Summary: The suspicious death of Kathleen Peterson (Toni Collette), the trial of her husband Michael (Colin Firth) and the arrival of a documentary crew are some of the events covered in this Antonio Campos limited drama series based on the 2004 true crime docuseries of the same name.

Genre(s): Drama, Movie/Mini-Series

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Season 1 Episodes

tbd
S1:E8. Beyond Reasonable Doubt
Air Date: June 9, 2022
tbd
S1:E7. Animal Instincts
Air Date: June 2, 2022
tbd
S1:E6. Trail and Error
Air Date: May 26, 2022

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

RogerEbert.com Nick Allen

May 4, 2022

“The Staircase” is both a masterful moment for an assured filmmaker, and it's the jolt that the true crime storytelling industry needs. ... The ensemble work in this series is a veritable feast, of calibrated performances, framing and editing, scene after scene. Read full review

Clint Worthington

Apr 27, 2022

In its painterly flourishes, and its willingness to poke at the moroseness of true crime stories from time to time, The Staircase proves gripping television. Read full review

Matthew Gilbert

May 5, 2022

A beautifully done miniseries, and revelatory, too, as it expands the North Carolina case into something more philosophically provocative than its sensationalistic origins might have suggested. Read full review

Brian Lowry

May 5, 2022

While the episodes occasionally grind too slowly, Colin Firth's riveting work as the hard-to-read suspect elevates this HBO Max limited series several steps above standard true-crime fare. Read full review

The Guardian Lucy Mangan

May 5, 2022

All in all, a staircase well worth climbing. Read full review

Kelly Lawler

May 4, 2022

Firth feels a bit too handsome and wholesome to play a potential murderer at first, but he effectively imbues Michael with sleaze. He’s fascinating to watch it only because it’s such a departure for him. Read full review

Shane Ryan

May 4, 2022

Firth and Collette are “good,” I guess, and so is the rest of the cast, from Michael Stuhlbarg as the defense attorney David Rudolf to Sophie Turner as Margaret Ratliff, but there is just nothing here to draw interest, much less sustain it, and good actors with no material are like jugglers having to pantomime the balls. Impressive, but only for about 10 seconds. In two words, this is dull fare. Read full review

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User Reviews

saimariejohnson

May 10, 2022

A very shocking show based on a true crime by an American novelist at a very crucial time in US history. Sensational, gripping, and saddening - this is one for the books where stories about the shades of truth behind a person come together in multiple strange ways.

1 of 2 users found this helpful11