‘Nocturne’ review: Stephen Graham is terrifying as a caged killer who still controls everything

Apple TV’s Nocturne brings enough fresh blood, figuratively and otherwise, to make a compelling case for joining their ranks.

Adapted from Lars Kepler’s bestselling Swedish crime novels The Sandman and Lazarus, the 10-episode psychological crime thriller transplants the Scandinavian authors’ nightmarish mythology from Stockholm to rural Pennsylvania. Created for television by Rowan Joffé, who also writes and executive produces, and developed and showrun by John Hlavin, the series assembles a formidable ensemble comprising Stephen Graham, Liev Schreiber, Zazie Beetz, Rory Culkin, Bill Camp, Poorna Jagannathan, Gary Carr and Chrissy Metz.

The story revolves around Jurek Walter (Graham), an incarcerated serial killer whose crimes continue to haunt the town long after his imprisonment. When Michael Frost, a young boy presumed murdered alongside his sister Felicia after their disappearance years earlier, inexplicably turns up alive, Jonah Lynn (Schreiber), the retired detective who originally put Walter away, is hauled back into the investigation. With Felicia’s whereabouts still unknown, FBI agent Saga Bauer (Beetz), Jonah’s goddaughter and surrogate daughter, joins the hunt, eventually having herself committed undercover to the very psychiatric institution housing the maniac they’re pursuing.