Natalie Portman joins the ever-growing number of A-list actors signing up as leads on tv shows for streaming platforms, partnering with Apple TV+ for its new seven-part murder mystery drama Lady in the Lake. Recently, Jake Gyllenhaal (Presumed Innocent) and Gary Oldman (Slow Horses) have found success in the move to TV. Can Lady in the Lake achieve the same result?
The gripping drama Lady in the Lake is based on the 2019 novel of the same name, written by Laura Lippman, which sees the lives of two women become connected without them initially realising it. It has the same noir edges of a detective thriller, but is told from the fresh and unique perspective of a murder victim as she judges the woman who is obsessed with the details of her murder.
In the show adaptation, the murder victim, Cleo Johnson (Moses Ingram), speaks directly to Maddie (Natalie Portman) — who is strangely fascinated with her death. As Cleo narrates, there is a sense that her tone is accusatory and disdainful. She even questions why Maddie is so interested in Cleo, but not so much in her own life and identity. She tells viewers that Maddie turned Cleo’s “end” into her own “beginning.”
Set in 1960s Baltimore, U.S., Maddie is a Jewish housewife with a traumatic secret past, who becomes increasingly more fragile as news of a young girl’s disappearance reaches her — until she decides to leave her husband and ends up reigniting her passion for journalism. Portman plays the complex, fascinating character extremely well. We know she can play complicated characters from her performances in hit films such as 2010’s Black Swan. It is great to see her bring real depth to Maddie’s character here too, expertly handling the nuances of her personality.
Maddie and Cleo’s lives appear to run parallel to one another. They both can be seen giving monologues at the same time, for example, yet the topics of these monologues differ wildly. Cleo Johnson is also a mother and is working many jobs to support her family, including her two sons. She is interested in politics, but it is not always simple or straightforward for her to follow her dreams. Moses Ingram plays a strong, yet overwhelmed, character.
The themes of the show are quite dark. As a young girl goes missing in the very first episode, Maddie is told she mustn’t search for the girl as the search party is “men only,” but this does not deter her. The episodes are fairly long, the show is slow-paced, but there is a lot of information to retain and many characters being introduced. It does feel a little drawn out by the middle of the season, however, because viewers are revealed of Cleo’s death within minutes of the show starting, but the lead up to how she was actually murdered takes hours of viewing to get to. There are some very unexpected cliffhangers throughout the series, which will have viewers clicking for the next episode with anticipation.
Watching Lady in the Lake will have audiences in awe. A pinch of patience is required, but it is an enjoyable viewing experience and, once all the pieces of the puzzle fit together, viewers will be left feeling highly rewarded.
Lady in the Lake will make its global debut on Apple TV+ with the first two episodes on Friday, July 19, 2024, followed by episodes every Friday through August 23, 2024.
