'The Vampire Lestat' Is the Highest-Rated TV Show of 2026 on Rotten Tomatoes
Your favorite vampires are now critically acclaimed. Rotten Tomatoes shared on social media that AMC's The Vampire Lestat is currently the highest-rated TV series of the year on the review aggregator, sitting pretty (like Lestat's luscious locks) at 100%.
Based on the 1985 Anne Rice novel of the same name (appropriately released on Halloween, to boot), the show, which is technically the third season of Interview with the Vampire, follows the titular character (Sam Reid) as he goes on tour with his band, chronicling his new rockstar life.
The present merges with the past as Lestat de Lioncourt endeavors to set the record straight following Louis de Pointe du Lac's (Jacob Anderson) narrative that became Daniel Molloy's (Eric Bogosian) best-selling novel. Lestat's version of this centuries-spanning saga proves that he's an unreliable narrator, but boy, is it a ton of fun to watch his take on the events at play.
In addition to Reid, Anderson, and Bogosian, the new season stars Assad Zaman as Armand, Sheila Atim as Akasha, Noah Reid as Larry, Ryan Kattner as Salamander, Seamus Patterson as Alex, Sarah Swire as TC, Joseph Potter as Nicolas de Lenfent, Justin Kirk as Raglan James, Jeanine Serralles as Christine Claire, Ella Ballentine as Baby Jenks, Damien Atkins as Magnus, Christopher Heyerdahl as Marius, and Jennifer Ehle as Gabriella. The series hails from showrunner and executive producer Rolin Jones.
#TheVampireLestat (100%) is the highest-rated TV show of 2026.
— Rotten Tomatoes (@RottenTomatoes) June 14, 2026
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While the Gothic horror bears the 100% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes, it also sits at 91% on the Popcornmeter. Den of Geek named Interview with the Vampire among "The Best Horror TV Shows of the 21st Century." Admittedly, I'd remove the "horror" and the "21st century" descriptors and crown it one of the best shows of all time.
The Vampire Lestat streams new episodes every Sunday on AMC at 9 p.m. ET/PT and on AMC+ at 12 a.m. ET/3 a.m. PT.
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 17, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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This story was originally published June 17, 2026 at 10:42 AM.