HBO’s 8-Part Crime Masterpiece Deserves Its 94% Rotten Tomatoes Score

Published Sep 30, 2026, 7:30 AM EDT

After 18 months at Screen Rant, Guy became Classic TV Editor in September 2026, and specializes in leading features content about shows from decades gone by. Having written for and editing several TV, film and music publications, his areas of expertise include comedy, crime, historical drama, Westerns, and political thrillers.

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The highest-scoring HBO thriller on Rotten Tomatoes has been all but forgotten, a decade on from its release. Yet, this eight-episode miniseries is a crime masterpiece delivered with forensic precision and steeped in agonizing realism.

Featuring a cast of seasoned dramatists and scripts by The Wire’s Richard Price, the show was set up for critical acclaim from its inception. However, what truly sets it apart is the tone and pace of its storytelling. As murky as it is suspenseful, The Night Of is a masterclass in neo-noir that deserves every bit of praise it gets.

Nevertheless, with the relentless advance of prestige TV streaming since 2016, the show has faded into relative obscurity. 10 years on, it feels as though almost nobody remembers this near-perfect miniseries. The Night Of doesn’t enjoy anything like the cultural recognition of True Detective season 1, or Harlan Coben’s Netflix adaptations, despite arguably being of far superior quality.

It’s hard to find fault with any aspect of the show, which takes inspiration from the earlier British anthology production Criminal Justice, but supersedes it in every way. As a grounded murder-mystery thriller miniseries that nails its brief from start to finish, The Night Of is virtually unique in the pantheon of modern TV greats, and a must-watch for subscribers to HBO Max.

The Night Of Is A Forgotten Crime Masterpiece On HBO

Even if it’s gotten lost among the abundance of limited series now on streaming, the show retains the reverence of those who’ve managed to discover it. The Night Of did briefly reenter HBO’s top 10 most-watched TV shows in the fall of 2025, nine years after its initial release, which is a measure of this breathtaking thriller’s impact on viewers.

It tells the story of a perplexing murder case in the starkest possible terms, primarily from the perspective of the accused and his would-be lawyer. We also get to see the effects of the case on almost everyone linked to it, from the families of both the victim and the defendant, to various other judicial stakeholders in the case.

Highest-Scoring HBO Thrillers On Rotten Tomatoes	Critics' Score	Audience Score
The Night Of (2016)	94%	93%
Oz (1997–2003)	93%	95%
The Flight Attendant (2020–Present)	91%	62%
Banshee (2013–2016)	90%	92%
Tokyo Vice (2022–2024)	89%	91%

At the same time as providing us with empathetic insights into its characters, the show deliberately keeps the truth about the fateful night of its title a question that hangs in the balance as the murder trial progresses. It effortlessly blends the intensity of high-stakes courtroom drama and harrowing prison scenes with slow-burning procedural developments.

All the while, we’re left unsure as to whether we can trust protagonist Naz Khan, whose shaky legal defense and victimization behind bars make him worthy of sympathy more than our judgement. But the real genius of The Night Of is in the way it ends Naz’s story.

Riz Ahmed Gives His Best Career Performance In The Night Of

Although the series is full of sublime performances, from John Turturro’s maverick defense attorney, and Jeannie Berlin as a battle-hardened prosecutor, to Michael Kenneth Williams as intimidating prison power player Freddy Knight, and Bill Camp’s restrained portrayal of case detective Dennis Box. But the actor who shines the most in The Night Of is undoubtedly lead performer Riz Ahmed.

The creator and main star of Prime Video’s bingeable dramedy series Bait was already established as a screen talent before he played Naz Khan. However, his turn in The Night Of’s suspected murderer made the whole of Hollywood sit up and take notice. To this day, the performance remains the pinnacle of his burgeoning career.

Ahmed won an Emmy for his profoundly moving portrayal of a young, downtrodden student from an ethnic minority background who finds himself in a situation he could never have imagined before it happened. Regardless of his character's guilt or innocence, the actor wins us over in The Night Of by plumbing emotional depths far beyond any other noir-inflected crime thriller of recent years.