The Looming Tower

While Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda become a global threat, the rivalry between the CIA and FBI inadvertently sets the stage for the tragedy of 9/11 and the Iraq War.

The Looming Tower is an American limited series created by Lawrence Wright, Dan Futterman and Alex Gibney for Hulu. Across ten fifty-minute episodes, it dramatizes the rivalry between the CIA and the FBI as Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda grow into a global threat. Jeff Daniels plays FBI counterterrorism agent John O'Neill, whose relentless pursuit of the group collides with the bureaucratic caution of his peers, while Tahar Rahim plays fellow agent Ali Soufan, who works to chase leads that his superiors keep dismissing. Michael Stuhlbarg appears as CIA official Richard Clarke, and Peter Sarsgaard joins the cast in a supporting role. The engine of the show is the slow accumulation of intercepted messages, stalled warrants, and turf fights between agencies that refuse to share what they know. Each episode builds the escalating dread of a threat that everyone can see but no one can stop. Its tone is sober, intelligent and grim, with a restrained atmosphere of mounting unease. Set in the late 1990s and early 2000s across New York, Washington and the Middle East, the series is a serious true events drama that will appeal to viewers of prestige historical television. Fans of The Wire, Chernobyl and Zero Dark Thirty will find resonance in its procedural realism and its portrait of institutional failure.

Viewers praise The Looming Tower as a complex, intelligent and sobering dramatization of the intelligence failures before 9/11.

• The Wireserious realist political drama, historical intelligence storytelling, institutional failure
• Chernobylprestige historical drama grounded in real events and government agencies
• Zero Dark Thirtytrue events dramatization, geopolitical thriller tone, government bureaucracy

Created by

Lawrence Wright, Dan Futterman, Alex Gibney

Release Date

2018-02-28

Episode runtime

50 min

Rating

8.0 / 10 (202)

What is The Looming Tower about?

A dramatized account of the CIA and FBI rivalry that let al-Qaeda's rise go unchecked until the 9/11 attacks.

What is The Looming Tower like to watch?

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

Is The Looming Tower violent?

Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in The Looming Tower as moderate.

What did critics think of The Looming Tower?

Viewers praise The Looming Tower as a complex, intelligent and sobering dramatization of the intelligence failures before 9/11.

Which shows are like The Looming Tower?

Shows with a similar feel include The Wire, Chernobyl, and Zero Dark Thirty.

How long is The Looming Tower?

The Looming Tower: 1 season, 10 episodes.

Is The Looming Tower still running?

No, The Looming Tower has ended.

Where can I watch The Looming Tower?

In United States, The Looming Tower streams on Hulu.