The Night Of

After a night of partying with a female stranger, a man wakes up to find her stabbed to death and is charged with her murder.

The Night Of (2016) is an American prestige crime miniseries created by Richard Price and Steven Zaillian for HBO. Across eight hour-long episodes, college student Nasir Naz Khan (Riz Ahmed) wakes after a night of partying to discover a woman stabbed to death, and finds himself charged with her murder. The engine of the story is his struggle to be heard within a system that moves on its own momentum, as a seasoned defense attorney John Stone (John Turturro) takes up his case and a detective Dennis Box (Bill Camp) pursues the arrest. Each episode follows the grinding machinery of New York City jail life, bail hearings, and courtroom preparation, with Naz's family, including his father Salim (Payman Maadi), navigating their own strain. The tone is sombre, tense and patient, carried by uncertainty about what truly happened that night. Fans of The Wire, The Staircase and Serial will find resonance in its procedural realism and its portrait of institutional failure. Set in contemporary New York City, the series forms a standalone limited run with a grounded, unhurried atmosphere throughout.

Critics broadly acclaim the miniseries as a gripping, realistic legal and prison drama with strong performances and sustained uncertainty, though some find its procedural details implausible and its pacing slow.

• The Wireshared slow burn legal crime procedural with a wrongly accused protagonist and institutional pressure
• The Staircaseshared prestige crime miniseries tone and focus on the justice system's failures
• Serialshared dark legal thriller structure around a murder trial and a defendant's ordeal

Created by

Richard Price, Steven Zaillian

Release Date

2016-07-10

Episode runtime

60 min

Rating

8.4 / 10 (1437)

What is The Night Of about?

A Pakistani American college student wakes after a night out to find a woman dead and must navigate New York's criminal justice system to prove his innocence.

What is The Night Of like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Night Of as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as dense.

Is The Night Of violent?

Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in The Night Of as moderate.

What did critics think of The Night Of?

Critics broadly acclaim the miniseries as a gripping, realistic legal and prison drama with strong performances and sustained uncertainty, though some find its procedural details implausible and its pacing slow.

Which shows are like The Night Of?

Shows with a similar feel include The Wire, The Staircase, and Serial.

How long is The Night Of?

The Night Of: 1 season, 8 episodes.

Is The Night Of still running?

No, The Night Of has ended.

Where can I watch The Night Of?

In United States, The Night Of streams on HBO Max Amazon Channel, Pure Flix, HBO Max.