The Staircase

Since the filmmakers had access to Peterson and his family, this documentary is inevitably a bit one-sided. But in a way, this fact drives home the horror of the crime and the terrible reality of Peterson's evil with greater force.

The film's real triumph is its portrayal of Peterson--outwardly witty, charming, sensitive, and totally unthreatening. Yet with time, we catch disturbing glimpses of his skewed thinking, self-pity, and oddly distorted personality. Like all sociopaths, we sense that something is wrong with him but cannot say precisely what it is. Finally, he seems scarcely to exist at all--he is a living mask concealing a void, a man who engages fully with the world and yet seems as detached from it as a person suffering from autism.

The devil does indeed have the ability to assume a pleasing shape--and lives in a perfectly ordinary, pleasant environment.

A triumph, that teaches a very sobering lesson.

While it may be true that the "camera doesn't lie," when you take 600+ hours of footage and edit them down to 6, you have a lot of leaway to manipulate. Immediately after finishing the film, I would have given this movie 4 stars. It's very well crafted and kept my wife and me fascinated for all eight episodes. After we finished watching it, however, we wanted to know more, so we started gathering information from other sources. Very quickly, we discovered that we had been conned. Jean-Xavier de Lestrade clearly knew what would make a compelling story, and he crafted the footage to tell that story. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to be the real story. We felt so betrayed. We'd spent 6 hours watching what was purported to be the truth only to discover that huge amounts of evidence had not been shown (much less explained) and that the documentary clearly was more spin that revelation. If you want to see a well-made film that will keep you amazed and guessing, definitely see this film. If you want to see something that reflects reality, I would look elsewhere.

This documentary film is absolutely excellent. It rivals Errol Morris' "The Thin Blue Line" as one of the best studies of the American justice system ever made. From the opening moments of the film (actually 8 episode, each approximately 45 minutes), one is immersed in the tale of a woman's (Kathleen Peterson) gruesome death. Her husband, Michael Peterson, is accused of her murder and he becomes the rightful centerpiece of a very strange and twisted story. This movie is not for the timid, since the crime scene and autopsy are examined in detail. However, the criminal forensics are both necessary and fascinating. This is not a neat and tidy CSI episode. The power of this film resides in its ability to expose the true character of the participants, whether it is the defendant Michael Peterson, his lawyers or the prosecutors. The Staircase, like the photographs of Kathleen Peterson's brutal death, is a starkly revealing documentary portrait with a soothing soundtrack. Buy it and watch it even if you think you recall something about this well known trial. You will not be disappointed.

This documentary is simply amazing. I bought it as a gift for my Mom (who is addicted to Court TV) and found that I couldn't stop watching. It grabs you and takes you along for a ride. A great inside look at the criminal justice system.

Jim Hardin,the district attorney,is my son-in-law.Our family was fascinated with the series,and we feel it was well done but totally biased.Never the less,what a story!!