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The Staircase

When we talk about streaming culture, we’re usually enthusing about what’s new, but one of the best things about streaming is how it’s made old and obscure cult hits available to a new generation. Presenting Cult Corner: your weekly look into hidden gems and long-lost curiosities that you can find on streaming.

Kathleen Peterson died on December 9, 2001. Her husband, writer Michael Peterson, claimed that she got drunk and fell down the stairs, hitting her head in a tragic accident. He was too busy hanging by the pool to hear her initial cries for help. The police alleged that he bludgeoned her to death with a fireplace poker after she fumed at him for being bisexual. The case continued to twist and turn as new revelations and eerie coincidences were brought to light. And the whole thing was captured by a documentary crew.

More than a decade before Serial captivated podcast listeners and Making a Murderer became a national obsession, The Staircase, a French docuseries following Peterson’s case transfixed viewers. Academy award-winning filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade was given intimate access to Michael Peterson as the investigation raged on and he followed him all the way to court. A shortened version of the docu-series aired as a two-hour special on Primetime Thursday in 2004, but the series was broadcast in its 8-episode entirety on Canal+ and BBC Four in 2005. Since then, both the case and the series have been revisited. Today, it clocks in at 10 45-minute long episodes that can be streamed via Sundance TV.

To this day, The Staircase is considered the sterling example of what true crime documentaries can be. It’s expertly shot and unravels in almost real time. While Making a Murderer is consumed with showing how the justice system failed Steven Avery, The Staircase wants us to question the truth at every turn. From its very start, the story is haunted by uncertainty. Was Kathleen Peterson even murdered? Or was her tragic death an accident? Adding to suspicions are a series of shocking revelations. Michael Peterson once lived with a family friend in Germany who also died from a head injury after falling down the stairs. That death was ruled an accident, but was it? The suggestion is that Peterson either has a habit of staging accidental deaths or that he was inspired by the first one.

The unease that permeates the series is summed up in the show’s original French title Soupçons, or “Suspicions.” Because when we get to the heart of our true crime obsession, are we really trying to figure out whodunit or is there a bigger mystery? How can we ever be sure who’s guilty and who’s innocent? And can we ever even trust our own judgment?

After the wild success of Making a Murderer, Sundance TV is letting viewers get a second look at The Staircase. The entire series is available to stream online for Sundance TV subscribers until March 16, but everyone can stream the first two episodes for absolutely free.

So give it a shot and let us know: Is it better than Making a Murderer or does it pale in comparison to Netflix’s juggernaut true crime series?

[Watch Episodes 1 & 2 of The Staircase on Sundance TV for Free]

Previously On Cult Corner:

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Cult Corner: Dark Shadows Attacked Gothic Romance With Pulpy Plots

Cult Corner: Could The A-MAH-ZING Happy Endings Have A Fresh Start On Hulu?

Cult Corner: The Moodys Will Make Your Christmas Feel Normal