"Ladder" is based on a true story, but it's still surprising

On May 5, the first three episodes of The Ladder aired on the HBO Max streaming service. The plot is based on the documentary project of the same name, which was released on French Canal+ and Netflix. And that, in turn, showed real events that shocked the United States.

It would seem, why do we need an artistic version of events, if you can see the original? Moreover, he was filmed cooler than many detectives and thrillers. However, the creator of the new series, Antonio Campos ("The Devil Is Always Here"), who personally directed the first episodes, managed to present a familiar story from an unusual side, revealing both the detective component and the family drama. And at the same time showed the reverse side of filming documentaries.

A detective based on a strange story

On December 9, 2001, writer Michael Peterson (Colin Firth) calls 911 in hysterics. He says that his wife Caitlin (Toni Collette) fell down the stairs and broke her head. According to her husband, at the time of the call, she was still breathing, but by the time the ambulance arrived, she had already died.

However police It immediately seems that a serious crime lies behind the alleged accident. Peterson is accused of murder, and the prosecutor begins to look for motives, because in fact the couple's family life was not very happy. Soon French documentary filmmakers pay attention to the high-profile trial and decide to follow what is happening.

Of course, as such, there can be no detective story in The Ladder. It is enough to open one of the many articles on the Internet or look documentary series, and it will immediately become clear what really happened. However, the creators of the project, even with such input data, manage to confuse the audience quite well.

They have several ways. First, the action is served non-linearly. Even the opening scene immediately shows the year 2017, then the plot is thrown back to the incident, and then earlier events are captured, showing what led to the tragedy. And throughout the series, the story will jump forward and backward, which adds dynamics and helps to intrigue the viewer.

And secondly, the main characters are very interesting. First of all, Caitlin herself. In the opening episodes, there are several hints at once that she really could accidentally fall down the stairs. The heroine regularly literally tries to kill herself: either she stumbles in the very place where they later find the body, then she jumps into the pool and almost drowns, or she almost gets injured on the stairs to the attic.

At the same time, it is very easy to believe in Peterson's sincere emotions - the talent of Colin Firth, the main star of the series, is perfectly revealed here. His tantrums at the beginning contrast very clearly with his further behavior, when the unsightly details of family life begin to be revealed.

And in a strange way, even knowing the denouement, at some point you can catch yourself thinking that all the characters look very ambiguous. And in fact, the plot can go quite differently.

Well, for those who have not read Peterson's story and have not watched the series from Netflixand it's better to start from scratch.

True family drama

Those who lack intrigue will surely be hooked by the personal and emotional component. After all, "Ladder" is not so much a story of a crime as a story about relationships. And it's not just about Michael and Caitlin, although Firth and Collette are the main focus in every scene they share.

The action also captures the emotions of their numerous relatives. The couple has five children: Clayton and Todd (Dane DeHaan and Patrick Schwarzenegger) - Michael's sons from his first marriage, daughter Caitlin, who also name is Caitlin (Olivia DeJong), but their names are spelled differently in English, and two adopted girls Margaret and Martha (Sophie Turner and Odessa Young). Plus, dad's brother Bill (Tim Guiney) and mom's sister Candace (Rosemary DeWitt) are in the action.

Perhaps the paragraph above will even help someone understand the plot. After all, at first, the abundance of characters can be confusing. In the west, even detailed articlesThe Peterson Family Tree In ‘The Staircase’ Is Complicated—Here Are The Basics / Women’s Health about the Peterson family tree.

After the death of Caitlin, all relatives find themselves in a very difficult situation. Immediately after the tragedy, of course, they support Michael, because they are convinced of his innocence. But gradually more and more strange details are revealed. And the point is not even in the evidence, but in the fact that Peterson hid a lot about his life, and sometimes openly lied to his loved ones.

From that moment on, everyone has to choose: stay on the side of a relative or take up the search for the truth. And the experiences of minor characters sometimes capture even more than the confrontation between detectives and lawyer, each of which tries to present the most harmonious version of what happened.

Documentary film deconstruction

But even with all the ingredients listed above, Ladder could just line up with a lot of series, based on real events, - over the past couple of years there have been obscenely many of them.

However, we should not forget that it was not the event itself that glorified Peterson’s story, but the Netflix series, thanks to which the audience watched the case almost in real time. And so the authors of the fictional version take a very curious move: they make the creators of the documentary the heroes of their project.

On the one hand, this is just a desire to reflect the truth: since Michael was filmed in reality, you need to show it on the screen. But on the other hand, the creators have several interesting opportunities. The supply becomes more diverse. A subjective view is also added to the different timelines: Peterson and his relatives are supposedly shown through the lens of documentary filmmakers, restoring real scenes.

But even more interesting is what it allows to tell about backstage filming of such series. It is clearly seen that with the cameras the family behaves in a completely different way than in a vicious circle. That allegedly random shots are sometimes re-shot several times. Yes, and the authors of the documentary themselves have their own view of history, although they try to be objective. In this regard, the plot once again confirms that the popular true-crime genre of series and podcasts, where true stories are told, should be treated critically.

Ladder looks like one of the strongest projects with a real fundamental principle in recent times. The series neatly combines detective and dramatic parts: it allows the actors to show their talents and confuses with many storylines and ambiguity. And at the same time, it will allow those who do not like documentary projects to get acquainted with the well-known history. After three introductory episodes, there is a feeling that it will only get more interesting.