Apple TV+ has added Nocturne, a new 10-episode crime drama, to its lineup. The series premiered October 30 and is adapted from the bestselling Joona Linna detective novels by Swedish authors Alexander Ahndoril and Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril, who write under the pen name Lars Kepler. It was created by Rowan Joffé and developed by John Hlavin.
The psychological thriller follows Jonah Lynn (Liev Schreiber), a grief-stricken former homicide detective who returns from self-imposed exile to a small Pennsylvania town. His return is prompted by a young boy who was presumed dead turning up alive after three years. Lynn had originally hunted and captured the boy's kidnapper, the incarcerated serial killer Jurek Walter (Stephen Graham). The reappearance renews Lynn's connection to the case and his drive to find the other missing sibling.
Across its 10 episodes, Nocturne builds a cat-and-mouse psychological game between Lynn and Walter. The source compares its dynamic to The Silence of the Lambs, Mindhunter and The Killing. The cast also includes Zazie Beetz, Poorna Jagannathan, Rory Culkin and Bill Camp. The story explores Walter's unusual psychological hypnotism and the limits of Lynn's campaign of vengeance.
While the original novels are set in Sweden and draw on Nordic noir, the Apple TV+ adaptation moves the story to Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh. The setting uses industrial ruins, dense wilderness and isolated small towns to heighten tension.
The article argues Nocturne is a fitting replacement for Slow Horses, whose most recent season has just ended. Both are adapted from long-running novel series and share a literary, slow-burning, character-driven approach. Slow Horses centers on flawed espionage figures; Nocturne mirrors that with Lynn, an antihero, and his protégé Saga Bauer (Beetz). Stephen Graham, an Emmy Award winner, plays Jurek Walter as a master of psychological warfare. With Slow Horses' seventh and eighth seasons still awaited, Nocturne is presented as a crime drama to fill the gap.
Sources: Comic Book Resources.