Stephen Graham delivers a performance that critics are calling both mesmerising and terrifying in Nocturne, a 10-part psychological thriller that centres on Jurek Walter, a convicted multiple murderer still exerting control from behind bars. Confined to Riverside psychiatric hospital in Pittsburgh, Walter has been sentenced to life but remains a potent, malevolent force in the lives of those around him.
A study in menace
Graham’s portrayal emphasises small, unsettling physical details — sudden stillness, a preternatural muscle-bound presence, a high-pitched giggle and an almost intimate whisper — that critics say combine to create a character as compelling as he is repulsive. The role is described as a slow-burning exercise in cruelty: Walter draws out the deaths of his victims not only to end individual lives but to prolong the suffering of their families.
Methods of torment
Within the bleak confines of Riverside, the series sketches the quotidian and the grotesque: Walter keeps up a regimen of push-ups, hides contraband behind his toilet bowl for reasons not immediately explained, and reportedly drives fellow inmates to suicide by whispering to them through the prison pipes. Those elements are used to underline how he continues to manipulate and terrorise his surroundings even when physically contained.
Cultural comparison and tone
Some reviews have suggested that Graham’s chilling turn may mark a new cultural standard for on-screen serial killers, drawing a comparison to Anthony Hopkins’s iconic Hannibal Lecter. The show’s unsettling atmosphere, combined with the magnetic focus of Graham’s performance, has been singled out as particularly effective in building dread — a quality reviewers note makes Nocturne a timely choice for viewers seeking a terrifying watch around Halloween.