The first three installments of HBO Max’s “The Staircase” are now streaming. I’ve seen five of the eight in this limited series, based on the long-form documentary of the same name. The short-form review of the adaptation? Exceptionally good. Amid a river of true-crime dramatizations featuring big names side-eyeing their co-stars while contemplating murder, or their characters’ tragically misunderstood innocence, this one knows what it’s doing. It sets a tone, gets everybody in the same movie and focuses on character interaction in long, fluid takes, glance by glance, bizarre development by de…
