HBO Max has released a new trailer for The Staircase, an upcoming drama series that explores the real-life death of Kathleen Peterson at the hands of her husband, Michael. The series stars Toni Collette and Colin Firth as the couple who get dragged into a murder investigation after Kathleen dies under suspicious circumstances.
The new trailer opens to a not-so-joyful family dinner, where Kathleen proposes a toast to the Peterson family. While the reunion should be a celebration of the beautiful family they built together, it’s already possible to feel the tension between Kathleen and Michael. The trailer then jumps to the fateful night when Michael called the emergency services to report a horrible accident: his wife fell down the stairs, apparently to her death.
However, Michael’s version of the facts doesn’t hold on for too long, as an autopsy reveals several hematomas and lacerations that Kathleen couldn't have suffered if she had simply fallen down the staircase. That leads to a trial that would shock the United States, as Michael becomes the prime suspect in his wife's murders. The series will explore the trial while Michael tries to keep his family together and convince his loved ones of his innocence.
As the trailer underlines, The Staircase will also use flashbacks to scrutinize the past of the Peterson family, exposing the skeletons both Kathleen and Michael kept in their closets, which would ultimately lead to a husband brutally murdering his wife. That’ll allow the series to keep Collette in the frame even after her character dies, another good reason to follow The Staircase when it premieres.
Created by Antonio Campos and Maggie Cohn, The Staircase has assembled an impressive cast that includes Michael Stuhlbarg, Rosemarie DeWitt, Juliette Binoche, Parker Posey, Odessa Young, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Dane DeHaan, Olivia DeJonge, and Sophie Turner. Campos will direct all eight episodes of the show from scripts he wrote with Cohn. The duo will also serve as executive producers, while Annapurna Television is co-producing alongside HBO Max. The Staircase is inspired by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade’s docuseries of the same name, which premiered in 2004. The drama series will also lean on the numerous books and reports on the case made available since the trial to recreate the events as faithful as possible.
The Staircase premieres on HBO Max on May 5, with new episodes coming out weekly until June 9. Check out the new trailer below: