--- title: "The Staircase: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/the-staircase-2022/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/tv/the-staircase-2022" critics_score: 79 critics_reviews: 12 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Staircase (2022): what the critics said Critics' score 79 from 12 reviews: 12 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. Every one of the twelve reviews lands on the positive side, and most of them say the same two things. First, Colin Firth’s Michael Peterson is the reason to watch: critics return again and again to how slippery he makes the man, insecure and evasive at once, with Toni Collette nearly as often singled out beside him. Second, the series earns its place next to the documentary it retells by folding that documentary’s crew into the story, so it becomes as much about how a case gets narrated as about who did what on the stairs. The spread is narrow. Nobody thinks it fails; the question is how much it adds. The Evening Standard calls the dramatisation unnecessary even while admitting it grips, and The Hollywood Reporter finds the early episodes uneven. The AV Club, having seen only part of the run, holds back a final view until the ending. Collider is the warmest, treating the performances as reason enough. ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 5 May 2022. The dramatisation of the notorious true-crime case is a hugely compelling who/if/how/whydunnit that fizzes with tension. Firth and Collette deliver brilliant performances as the slippery, complex central couple. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/may/05/the-staircase-review-colin-firth-and-toni-collette) ## IndieWire — Ben Travers Rating B+. 27 April 2022. The critic praises Colin Firth's lead performance and the series' clever examination of how narratives shape perceptions of guilt and innocence. It notes the effective use of multiple timelines to deepen character portrayals while balancing fact and fiction. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/2022/04/the-staircase-review-hbo-max-colin-firth-1234719990/) ## The AV Club — Alison Foreman Rating B+. 7 May 2022. The review finds the series riveting in its exploration of the Peterson case and true-crime sensationalism but withholds full judgment pending the ending after viewing only partial episodes. It highlights strong performances by Colin Firth and Toni Collette amid questions about the docudrama approach. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-staircase-tv-review-hbo-max-1848879938) ## The Telegraph — Anita Singh Rating 4/5. 5 May 2022. This HBO dramatisation keeps viewers hooked with its central mystery of whether Michael Peterson killed his wife. It matches the hit documentary as a compelling, corkscrewing whodunit. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/staircase-review-corkscrewing-whodunit-match-hit-documentary/) ## The Times — Hugo Rifkind Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 6 May 2022. This is prestige stuff that is cold, shaking, surreal and grim; the reviewer is transfixed by the brilliant unravelling of Peterson’s character from all-American alpha patriarch to a flaky confusion of petulance, deceit and sexual incontinence. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/the-staircase-review-di-ray-the-terror-infamy-0gtw36g6k) ## Evening Standard — Vicky Jessop Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 29 April 2022. This dramatisation is unnecessary but gripping, with Colin Firth convincingly inhabiting the morally slippery Peterson and strong turns from the young cast as the fractured family. It adds nothing new to the well-trodden story yet keeps viewers on edge. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/the-staircase-review-sky-atlantic-colin-firth-true-crime-b997125.html) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Daniel Fienberg Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 3 May 2022. It rises above typical true-crime scripted series through its focus on the documentary crew's role and the meta examination of how truth is shaped, with effective performances from Firth and others that add layers beyond reenactment. The first episodes show promise, though some elements feel uneven. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/the-staircase-review-1235139509/) ## Variety — Daniel D'Addario Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 4 May 2022. The series elevates the familiar true-crime story by weaving in the making of the original documentary as a meta layer about narrative construction, guilt and media. Strong performances, particularly Firth's portrayal of Michael Peterson's insecurity and complexity, help make it probing rather than rote. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2022/tv/reviews/staircase-review-hbo-max-colin-firth-1235243037/) ## Collider — Carly Lane Rating A. 27 April 2022. The series is hailed as a compelling companion piece to the documentary that widens the focus to fractured lives and relationships without providing easy answers. It singles out the performances, particularly Colin Firth and Toni Collette, as the most compelling element. [Read the review](https://collider.com/the-staircase-hbo-max-review-colin-firth-toni-collette/) ## Consequence — Clint Worthington Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 27 April 2022. The series is praised as a self-aware prestige drama that expands the Peterson case into a multifaceted exploration of truth, self-delusion, and secrets. It singles out Colin Firth's performance as Michael Peterson for its scintillating opaqueness. [Read the review](https://consequence.net/2022/04/the-staircase-review-hbo-colin-firth/) ## /Film — Chris Evangelista Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 27 April 2022. The limited series is viewed as a worthwhile expansion of the original documentary that examines its own creation and questions of objectivity. It singles out the strong performances by Colin Firth and Toni Collette for carrying the story. [Read the review](https://www.slashfilm.com/843999/the-staircase-review-colin-firth-and-toni-collette-are-equally-strong-in-this-expansion-of-the-true-crime-saga/) ## The Ringer — Alison Herman Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 5 May 2022. The HBO Max series distinguishes itself in the true crime genre by widening its scope to the Peterson family dynamics and especially by turning meta in its later episodes to examine the documentary crew and media frenzy around the case. The critic highlights how this approach poses broader questions about storytelling, audience attachment, and the influence of the medium itself. [Read the review](https://www.theringer.com/2022/05/05/tv/the-staircase-hbo-max-review-colin-firth-toni-collette) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/tv/the-staircase-2022.md