True crime has become a defining genre on television these days, moving away from the world of documentary and into prestigious narrative filmmaking.
In the wake of successful true crime docs like “The Jinx,” HBO is presenting a big, splashy, star-studded look at a case that has captivated audiences for over a decade.
The latest is the A-list HBO Max recreation of the Michael Peterson case that French filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade documented in his 2004 miniseries “The Staircase.”Despite its critical success, “The Staircase” didn’t quite reach the levels of national zeitgeist that “The Jinx”, “Making a Murderer” or “Serial” have in years since.
But its fingerprints are all over those shows, not just in terms of access to the accused, but also in the attention to forensic detail, novelistic approach to storytelling, and a central suspect whose guilt or innocence continues to divide viewers.
Now, it’s considered
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