The Long Night

It was an open shut case with hundred of witnesses seeing the murder suspect trying to dispose of a body and a signed confession from the suspect himself. And yet when the case was ready for court, the prosecutor discovered that the case was not as it appeared. The murder was but a cover for another more shocking injustice. He spent ten years trying to uncover the truth, toiling away his youth, his career, his reputation, his family, and even his life.

The Long Night (2020) is a Chinese crime drama series created by If Chen and Zi Jin Chen for iQiyi. Liao Fan plays prosecutor Yan Liang, who is handed a murder case that looks airtight, with hundreds of witnesses and a signed confession, only to discover once it is ready for court that the killing was a cover for a far more shocking injustice. Bai Yu, Zhao Yang, Lü Xiaolin and Tan Zhuo play principal figures drawn into the same tangle of evidence and loyalty. The engine of the story is a single determined man against an institution that prefers the convenient version of events, and each episode peels back another layer of the case, tracking the years he spends toiling away his career, reputation and family life. This single-season run of twelve fifty-minute episodes is a serialized, slow-burning mystery built on patient investigation rather than spectacle. Its tone is grim, weighty and morally serious, with a steady undercurrent of dread about how far the truth can be buried. Adapted from a novel, it is set in contemporary China. Fans of The Wire, Unforgotten and Hidden Blade will find resonance in its investigative grit and its portrait of institutional corruption.

Audiences rate it as an acclaimed, tightly plotted legal thriller whose central mystery and prosecutor's long pursuit of truth hold attention.

• The Wireshared prestige crime investigation tone, institutional corruption, and a prosecutor or detective pursuing truth over years
• Unforgottenshared wrongful case unraveling, legal institutional corruption, and a long-haul pursuit of justice
• Hidden Bladeshared Chinese crime thriller tradition, morally compromised officials, and a case that hides a deeper injustice

Created by

If Chen, Zi Jin Chen

Release Date

2020-09-16

Episode runtime

50 min

Rating

8.2 / 10 (65)

What is The Long Night about?

A prosecutor finds that an apparently airtight murder case hides a deeper injustice and spends a decade pursuing the truth at great personal cost.

What is The Long Night like to watch?

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

Is The Long Night violent?

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

What did critics think of The Long Night?

Audiences rate it as an acclaimed, tightly plotted legal thriller whose central mystery and prosecutor's long pursuit of truth hold attention.

Which shows are like The Long Night?

Shows with a similar feel include The Wire, Unforgotten, and Hidden Blade.

How long is The Long Night?

The Long Night: 1 season, 12 episodes.

Is The Long Night still running?

No, The Long Night has ended.

Where can I watch The Long Night?

In United States, The Long Night streams on iQIYI.