Critic Reviews

The Night Manager has something for everyone--fans of spy craft, fans of cinematic television, fans of good storytelling or just of Tom Hiddleston (or Hugh Laurie, for that matter). It will pull you into its story completely and allow you inhabit its world, but at a terrible cost: brevity.

Writer David Farr updated le Carre's novel with expert care, and his script is stunningly realized by a sensational cast guided by the unerring direction of Susanne Bier. Indeed, just about everything goes right in this sexy, riveting and suspenseful miniseries.

The Night Manager stands tall as a stand-alone gem that elevates the cat-and-mouse game without ever entrapping itself. Bravo.

Nearly everything about The Night Manager works, from the high-powered cast to the gorgeous locales. And it’s thematically dense as well, as le Carré and Bier examine the games people play with each other to get what they need, and how far we’re willing to go to deceive for the greater good.

Each weekly episode of The Night Manager will feel too short. But the pleasure is so great that we should probably thank AMC for letting it stretch out over six weeks.

A clever fable of heroic renewal, The Night Manager gives us a redemptive journey into a heart of darkness and a portrait of a genre mired in shadow pining for daylight.

The real le Carré unreels here, with savvy updates (re-gendering the book’s male spy boss) strengthening his nail-biting storytelling and ever keen focus on the toxic bureaucracy behind even the most opulent intrigue.

It's more than slick. The spy tale is a great character study built on concerns about how superpowers, intelligence communities and organized crime operate and what the quest for revenge can do to decent people.

The Night Manager combines luxurious production with razor-sharp writing, and it's brought to life by a brilliant cast, headed by Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie.

The Night Manager is easily the best miniseries of the year--in a year packed with monumental ones. Hiddleston, Laurie and Bier aren’t just adding another credit to their resumes. They’re part of a series that’s quite likely a game changer.