Nocturne premiere: A 10-episode thriller debuts Friday

Denver viewers can begin watching the Apple TV series "Nocturne" on Friday. The ten-episode drama adapts the Lars Kepler novels "The Sandman" and "Lazarus" for television. Creators John Hlavin and Rowan Joffé moved the setting from Scandinavia to western Pennsylvania.

The story opens with a kidnapped teenager found in the woods after three years. His sister remains missing, likely held by the same abductor. Authorities, including a retired detective played by Liev Schreiber, look to Jurek Walter, a serial killer played by Stephen Graham. Walter is currently held in a restricted underground unit of a psychiatric hospital.

The central mystery involves determining if Walter has an accomplice. To investigate, the FBI sends an undercover officer into the facility as an inmate. Zazie Beetz plays this officer. The narrative weaves together the search for a missing child, the detective's obsession with the case, and the dynamic between the killer and the undercover agent.

Stephen Graham prepared for the role by studying true crime documentaries. He said his wife, Hannah, selected the films, which focused on how killers manipulate people and believe their own truths. Graham noted that actors absorb these performances similarly to how one might be inspired by art in a gallery.

Hlavin described the character of Jurek as a wolf placed in a kennel. The series contrasts the confined underground cell with the open spaces of rural Pennsylvania. To build chemistry, Graham and Rory Culkin, who plays a hospital aide, spent time together off set. They ate dinner, visited museums, and watched a football game.

Zazie Beetz learned some Dominican Spanish for an introductory scene. The production team used large fans to create wind effects on trees in the woods. Liev Schreiber joined the project after meeting director Tim Van Patten, who has received Emmy awards for "Boardwalk Empire" and "The Pacific".

Schreiber said the three leads deal with existential isolation. He asked who defines a person when family, colleagues, or career become untethered. Hlavin stated the goal was to make the story feel different for sophisticated audiences. Beetz said the creators aimed to drop clues carefully while trusting the audience to keep up.