‘The Terror: Devil in Silver’ Review — Grabs You From the Very Start and Never Lets Go

It’s the early days of May but for horror enthusiasts it’s also Halfway to Halloween, and the AMC+ and Shudder joint venture The Terror: Devil in Silver scratches the itch for anyone looking for a chilling new series to dive into. The third season of the acclaimed horror anthology from executive producer Ridley Scott features Dan Stevens in a nightmare that grabs you from the start and never lets go.

The series begins with the death of a man at New Hyde Hospital. While deaths aren’t unexpected occurrences at hospitals, this one has the staff shaken. Something is going on in the darkened hallways and it has everyone rattled. “What if he didn’t do it to himself?” one of the nurses muses. His supervisor (CCH Pounder), unfazed, shakes her head. 

Next we meet Pepper (Stevens), a hustler who would rather be teaching drum lessons than working as a mover. His girlfriend, Marisol, is supportive but cautious of Pepper’s plan to give lessons to kids in their building. Pepper’s latest moving job is a tough cleanout of a man’s home; the deceased’s daughter isn’t interested in saving anything from her father’s life and he has a hard time with her lack of compassion. 

When Pepper arrives home to find Marisol’s ex becoming violent in front of her daughter, his protective instincts kick in and he delivers his own brand of justice. Things take a turn when three bystanders get involved and Pepper attacks them in the heat of the moment without realizing that they’re undercover cops. 

Instead of delivering him to the police station, he’s taken to the Behavioral Unit at New Hyde Hospital. One of the officers, nursing a sore face, insists that this gives Pepper a fair fight instead of being delivered to the police station, where assaulting three officers would land him in central booking. 

It’s not long before Pepper realizes that he’s in more trouble than he can imagine. Dorry (Judith Light), is one of the residents at New Hyde’s northwest ward and she can’t help but notice that a new man has arrived the day after the death of another patient. “New Hyde is hungry,” she says. 

The Terror: Devil in Silver plays out like a nightmare, laying a foundation that slowly reaches a fever pitch. New Hyde has secrets — and something crawling in the ceiling — and the staff is in on it. Slowly but surely, the doctor paints a picture of Pepper as a dangerous criminal to justify being remanded to the hospital’s care, but there’s more to it. They need someone to take the place of the dead man and Pepper is the man to do it. But why? What dark secrets is New Hyde trying to conceal? 

Stevens delivers a riveting performance as an endearingly cocky man whose heart is in the right place. Stevens’ eyes express Pepper’s fear and increasing sense of dread as he’s thrust into an unwinnable situation, fighting for his life in a game where the rules are rigged.

Light gives a masterclass performance as the ward’s longstanding resident and unofficial tour guide. Her eyes reveal a wisdom that comes from seeing too much. She’s perhaps the most honest person in the entire hospital. “Just play nice,” she warns Pepper. “That’s all they want from you.”

The series is based on Victor LaValle’s book of the same name. Devil in Silver shines a harsh light on the realities of the mental health system through the lens of a horror story. That’s the real villain of the story: a system that strips you of your sense of self and hides you away, gaslighting you into believing that you’re the problem when the real problem is the system itself.

The Terror: Devil in Silver premieres May 7, with new episodes available Thursdays on AMC+ and Shudder.