--- title: "The Terror" year: 2018 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/the-terror" fi1m_score: 82 critics_score: 79 critics_reviews: 8 published: "2026-09-17T18:22:13.298391+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T18:22:41.462550+00:00" region: "US" 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 Terror (2018) Created by David Kajganich, Max Borenstein, Alexander Woo · 44m · MPA TV-14 · Mystery, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy **Fi1m score: 82** · Critics 79 from 8 reviews *In a sentence:* The ice is patient, the men are not, and the monster barely needs to bother > Ten hours of two ships frozen into the Arctic, and the most frightening period television we have sat through in a long while. The creature is the least of it; the cold, the dark and the men do the work. It goes slack in the middle. ## Synopsis In 1845 two Royal Navy ships, *Erebus* and *Terror*, sail for the Arctic to find the Northwest Passage. Sir John Franklin (Ciarán Hinds) commands the expedition and is sure of God, the Admiralty and himself. Captain Francis Crozier (Jared Harris), his Irish second-in-command aboard *Terror*, wants to turn back before the ice closes; Franklin will not hear of it. Captain James Fitzjames (Tobias Menzies) keeps the officers’ table civil. The ships freeze in. Assistant surgeon Henry Goodsir (Paul Ready) tends the sick below decks, caulker’s mate Cornelius Hickey (Adam Nagaitis) watches everyone, and a hunting party on the ice shoots an Inuit man. His daughter, Silna (Nive Nielsen), stays near the ships. So does something else. A second, separate season, *Infamy*, follows Chester Nakayama (Derek Mio) and his family. ## Review In 1845 two Royal Navy ships, *Erebus* and *Terror*, sailed for the Arctic to find the Northwest Passage, and neither came back. That is a matter of record, and the series tells you as much in its first minutes, with a naval officer asking an Inuit man what happened. David Kajganich’s adaptation of Dan Simmons’s novel fills the gap between what is known and what is not, and it fills it with a creature. The surprise is how little the creature matters. This is a series about cold, rank and tinned food, and it is very good at all three. The first three episodes set the ships in the ice and the men against each other. Ciarán Hinds plays Sir John Franklin as a kind, pious man who has never once been in a room where he was not the most important person, and does not know how dangerous that has made him. Jared Harris’s Francis Crozier, captain of *Terror* and Franklin’s second, is the man who says so, and is punished for it with polite silence. Tobias Menzies, as James Fitzjames, keeps the officers’ dinners going with anecdotes he has told before. By the time a hunting party shoots an Inuit man on the ice and his daughter, Silna (Nive Nielsen), is brought aboard, the expedition has already begun to fail without any help from the supernatural. It is made with unusual care. Above decks there is no horizon; sky and ice are the same dirty white and the masts are the only vertical lines for a hundred miles. Below, the ceilings are so low that the camera keeps the beams in frame and the officers stoop, and the light comes from lanterns that show breath before they show faces. The sound is the best thing in it. The ice groans through the hull like something alive, the timbers answer, and the score scrapes and hums rather than swells. The directors, Edward Berger and Tim Mielants among them, hold shots still and let men stand in the cold until we feel it. The moment that got us came in the first episode and had nothing to do with anything on the ice. A young seaman dies in the sick bay of something no one can name, and Paul Ready’s Goodsir attends him with a tenderness the officers upstairs, at dinner, know nothing about. It moved us more than we were ready for, because nobody raised their voice and nobody was allowed to. We were frightened later, properly frightened, and it was almost never by what appeared; it was by a hatch left open, a lamp going out, a man walking away from the ship alone. Harris carries the series. His Crozier is a man who has been right too often, drinks about it, and has stopped expecting anyone to listen. Hinds is warm enough that Franklin’s blindness hurts. Adam Nagaitis, as Hickey, gives us a small man who notices everything and says little, and the series is wise enough to let him be interesting before it tells us what he is. Ready is the one you will worry about. It is too long. The middle episodes, roughly four to six, have the men do the same things in the same rooms, and the tension leaks out through repetition rather than release. When the creature is finally shown at length it is a computer-drawn thing that convinces far less than the ice does, and we found ourselves wishing it would stay in the fog. Silna is given less inner life than the sailors, and the Inuit remain, for most of ten hours, something the English look at. Most critics have made the first complaint; fewer have made the third. The second season, *Infamy* (2019), is a different story with a different cast, led by Derek Mio as Chester Nakayama. It shares a title and a taste for slow dread and not much else, and it is best judged as a separate programme. Everything above is about the first ten episodes. Certificate 18, 44 minutes an episode, and not one of them warm. Watch it in winter with the heating on, and do not eat anything out of a tin while you do. *Fi1m score 82, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say The reviews are positive without exception, and most critics land in the same place: this is a handsome, well-acted, slow-burning horror that earns its dread. The praise clusters on atmosphere first, the sense of Arctic isolation and the steady accumulation of cold, hunger and men turning on one another, and on the cast second. Jared Harris is named more than anyone, with Ciarán Hinds and Tobias Menzies close behind. Several critics also single out the production design, which they find convincing as history and unsettling as horror. The reservations are mild and do not cluster. The Telegraph finds the supernatural element unnecessary. Vulture thinks ten hours is too long. The Guardian wants more claustrophobia from the ice and notes uneven pacing, while Variety calls it fine as far as it goes, the coolest note here. The spread is narrow, from good to outstanding, with Collider at the top declaring it one of the scariest series in years. ### Reviews we read (8) - **IndieWire**, Ben Travers (A-): The critic praises the limited series for beautifully capturing every form of fear in one bone-chilling tale based on a true story. It explores what surfaces in men facing the ultimate test through historical fiction blending real and unimaginable horrors. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/2018/03/amc-the-terror-review-true-story-scary-good-1201943813/) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney (80/100, inferred): The series blends historical adventure, survival saga, psychological thriller and creature horror with dramatic robustness and commanding acting. The production design, acting (especially from Harris, Hinds and Menzies) and confident storytelling stand out. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/terror-tv-review-berlin-2018-1087339/) - **The Telegraph**, Anita Singh (4/5): The critic finds it a chilling tale that tells the story well with a fine cast, praising the atmosphere and unease, though noting the supernatural element is unnecessary. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2021/03/03/terror-review-chilling-tale-monsters-victorian-vainglory/) - **Variety**, Maureen Ryan (75/100, inferred): The series is a handsome and well-acted period drama about polar explorers that is fine as far as it goes. It looks terrific with a moody sense of Arctic isolation and striking visuals, and gives Jared Harris a strong starring role. [Read](https://variety.com/2018/tv/reviews/terror-amc-jared-harris-tobias-menzies-ciaran-hinds-ships-arctic-1202733600/) - **Vulture**, Matt Zoller Seitz (75/100, inferred): The critic describes the series as a horrifying 19th-century nightmare that systematically visualizes every possible disaster during an Arctic voyage. While praising the detailed misery and atmospheric filmmaking, they note it may be too long at ten hours. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2018/03/the-terror-amc-review.html) - **The Guardian** (70/100, inferred): The critic praises the series as a promising small-screen horror with strong performances from Ciarán Hinds and Jared Harris, highlighting the intrigue and power dynamics, while noting some issues with pacing and the lack of claustrophobic tension in the icy setting. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/mar/26/the-terror-review-menacing-arctic-horror-series-gives-a-lasting-chill) - **The Times**, Camilla Long (70/100, inferred): The critic is captivated by the grimness and Victorian drama, loving the shocking elements and performances, particularly Jared Harris. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/tv-reviews-the-terror-max-clifford-the-fall-of-a-tabloid-king-deutschland-89-ben-fogle-inside-chernobyl-0vvhtzxsv) - **Collider**, Haleigh Foutch (★★★★★): The critic finds The Terror one of the scariest TV shows in years, praising its immersive production values, cast performances, and slow-building dread from natural, human, and supernatural horrors. [Read](https://collider.com/the-terror-tv-series-review-amc/) ## Details - **Created by:** David Kajganich, Max Borenstein, Alexander Woo - **Creator:** David Kajganich, Max Borenstein, Alexander Woo - **Director:** Tim Mielants, Sergio Mimica-Gezzan, Edward Berger, Michael Lehmann, Josef Kubota Wladyka, Fred Toye, Everardo Gout, Lily Mariye, Meera Menon, Toa Fraser - **Writer:** David Kajganich, Steven Hanna, Shannon Goss, Tony Tost, Soo Hugh, Naomi Iizuka, Alexander Woo, Max Borenstein, Alessandra DiMona, Vinnie Wilhelm, Josh Parkinson, Andres Fischer-Centeno, Benjamin Endsley Klein, Danielle Roderick, Gina Welch - **Story:** Alexander Woo, Max Borenstein - **Teleplay:** Alexander Woo - **Producer:** Robyn-Alain Feldman - **Cast:** Jared Harris as Captain Francis Crozier; Derek Mio as Chester Nakayama; Ciarán Hinds as Sir John Franklin; Cristina Rodlo as Luz Ojeda; Tobias Menzies as Captain James Fitzjames; Kiki Sukezane as Yuko Tanabe; Paul Ready as Doctor Henry Goodsir; Shingo Usami as Henry Nakayama - **Runtime:** 44m - **Certificate (MPA):** TV-14 - **Release (the US):** 26 March 2018 - **Genres:** Mystery, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pMW1Jw5wsY ## Where to watch in the US - AMC+: streaming - Amazon Prime Video: free - The Roku Channel: free, hd - Apple TV: add-on, hd - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd - Amazon Prime Video: add-on - Amazon Prime Video: buy, sd - Apple TV: buy, sd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AE, AT, AU, BE, BG, CA, CH, CZ, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, HU, IE, IT, JP, LT, NL, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Scott of the Antarctic* (1948): British polar failure told with stiff lips and a Vaughan Williams score - *The Thing* (1982): Isolation, snow and men who stop trusting each other; the creature is worse — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-thing.md) - *Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World* (2003), Fi1m 86: Life aboard a Napoleonic ship, done with the same care for rank and rope — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/master-and-commander-the-far-side-of-the-world.md) - *Chernobyl* (2019): Jared Harris again, as a tired man telling powerful people the truth - *The North Water* (2021): Arctic whaling, ice and a murderer on board; shorter and nastier --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/the-terror