Stephen Graham delivers a menacing turn in Apple TV thriller Nocturne

Nocturne, which premieres on Apple TV on October 30, follows Stephen Graham as Jurek Walter, a serial killer who, after unleashing terror on a small Pennsylvania town, is locked away in a psychiatric facility where he relishes his powers of manipulation. In the opening scene, he successfully taunts a neighbouring inmate into self-harm using just words, and is subsequently forbidden from speaking to anyone.

Graham's portrayal, according to reviewer Jared Richards, is a victory lap for the actor, who co-created and starred in the hit series Adolescence. Richards notes that Graham, known for raw portrayals of men at the brink of collapse in works such as This Is England and Boiling Point, tempers decades of energy into a character who presents as diabolically relaxed and controlled.

The plot is set in motion when a missing boy, believed to be one of Walter's victims, emerges emaciated from a Pennsylvania forest three years after Walter was imprisoned. Ex-cop Jonah (Liev Schreiber) and his goddaughter FBI agent Saga (Zazie Beetz) volunteer to find the boy's sister, who was kidnapped at the same time. Both scarred by Walter's crimes, they regularly break protocol to follow their instincts, with Saga going undercover as a patient at the asylum.

Creators Rowan Joffé (Tin Star) and John Hlavin (Shooter) adapt the Swedish novel series Joona Linna. Richards writes that the show never relies on Scandi-noir gloom to provide suspense alone, crediting the creators with a great sense of pacing.

Rory Culkin plays Karl, a new nurse who is immediately identified as an easy target by Walter. The cast also includes Chrissy Metz (This Is Us) as the returning boy's mother.

Across the seven of 10 episodes available for review, Richards found the show's cop cliches and clunkier moments easy to forgive, praising Graham and the cast. The series is described as solid but unassuming, neither puffing up its importance nor being insultingly twist-led.