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The Staircase Review

The Staircase is a 2022 crime drama miniseries that premiered on HBO Max in 2022. It’s one of the year’s best-written shows.

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“I did not murder my wife“

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The miniseries deals with the murder of Kathleen Peterson. She was found dead at the bottom of the staircase, so her husband Michael is accused of murder. Based on a true story, the show clearly took some major liberties with this real life story, so it should not be thought of as historically accurate in any shape or form.

And to many people, this was a big issue that they could not overcome. But I myself did not watch the 2004 docuseries that adapted the story truthfully, so I cannot compare the two. Watching this show on its own merits and not through the lens of real life, it truly is a huge accomplishment and it should be regarded as such.

There are so many things that the team involved did admirably. For one, the script is absolutely incredible. This is one of the best-written series that I’ve seen recently and one that is more sophisticated and complex than most serious films out there. It depicts its time period honestly, but it rings true in its portrayal of bisexuality and how complex it is when marriage is involved.

It functions as a dire warning against the dangers of living a lie. It was fresh to see a bisexual man’s perspective instead of a gay man’s one. This is the first time that I’ve seen a Hollywood product that deals with bisexuality and it deals with it in such a painfully realistic manner. Michael is attracted to both genders and that attraction leads to a lot of tumultuous emotions. I am glad that they went there and portrayed that these types of cheating men can be straight-up dangerous for their wives, not just morally bankrupt.

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The finale is the best episode and that end scene was absolutely spectacular. The fact that the show ended on an ambiguous instead of conclusive note was brilliant as it set itself apart from many other true crime stories out there. Yes, it’s not accurate, but in the context of this story, it worked splendidly.

What did not work as well was the whole filmmaking aspect that they needlessly added to the proceedings. It was unimportant to the overall story and it grinded the show to a halt whenever it was focused on. The French characters were so boring, including Sophie herself. Juliette Binoche played her so well, but again the series could have done without her. The prison sequences were also not great and they were badly paced and uninteresting.

But the Petersons as a family are intricately depicted and their complex dynamics between one another were superbly written and portrayed. Toni Collette played a thankless role of a dead wife and at first I was worried that they wasted her on this character, but eventually through many flashbacks she thankfully got to flex her acting muscles more.

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Those flashbacks in The Staircase were immensely satisfying. Structurally, the series is complicated, but very well executed. Each flashback gives a different side to the story in a rather intriguing manner. The directing, score and especially the dialogue are all top-notch. The standout is Colin Firth himself. He has rarely if ever been better than he was here. His American accent is excellent and his performance is layered and towering as he sold every emotion on his face effortlessly. He should be receiving awards for his amazing work here.