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An all-star cast features in one of the most talked-about murder cases of the century.
Released in 2004, multi-episode docu-series The Staircase was one of the progenitors for society’s widespread love of true-life murder-mysteries.
If you’re a big fan of the critically-acclaimed documentary, then we’ve got some good news for you, because the first episodes of the mini-series adaptation is available to stream now with your NOW Entertainment Membership.
The story behind it is one of those ‘so bizarre it has to be real’ situations. Crime novelist and loving father Michael Peterson is accused of bludgeoning his wife Kathleen to death, after her body is found at the bottom of the stairs in their home.
Never budging from maintaining his innocence, Michael is the prime suspect for the crime. Over the course of the investigation, several jaw-dropping revelations are unearthed and presented to his defence team.
In this dramatisation, Michael is played by Colin Firth, while Toni Collette portrays Kathleen. The rest of the cast is equally impressive, including Rosemarie DeWitt (Poltergeist), Juliette Binoche (The English Patient), Parker Posey (Scream 3), Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones), Dane DeHaan (Chronicle), Michael Stuhlbarg (Dopesick) and loads more.
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The early reviews for the show have been unanimously praising performances, direction and how the the project provides a new angle on the story for viewers.
Collider – “Watching this show not only makes the case for revisiting the documentary too; it demands a tandem viewing, with each successfully complementing the other in its existence.”
The Playlist – “This story really has it all, and [the director] clearly gets all of it. His obsession with the case pays off as he turns it into high drama, and high art.”
IndieWire – “[Antonio] Campos trusts his cast to find the right notes, while coordinating the timelines so the black comic bits never overwhelm the story’s urgent drama.”
Time – “With additional context comes an even greater sense that no secondhand account of what happened on that staircase—whether generated by the prosecution, the defence, or Lestrade—will ever approach the objective truth. The linchpin of this delicate portrayal is Colin Firth’s performance as Michael.”
You can stream the first three episodes of The Staircase with your NOW Entertainment Membership right now, with one new episode arriving each Thursday after that.
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