Streaming on: Apple TV+
Episodes viewed: 7 of 7
“You wanted to tell everyone’s story but your own.” It’s one of many cryptic and accusatory remarks made by Cleo Johnson (Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Moses Ingram) after her death. In Lady In The Lake, Cleo narrates her life from beyond the grave to an ambitious aspiring reporter, Maddie Schwartz (Natalie Portman), whose quest to investigate her murder leads her down a path of obsession and intrigue. Like all good mysteries, Lady In The Lake sets its stall high — and boy, does it take you on a wild adventure.
This TV adaptation of Laura Lippman’s bestselling novel could easily have drowned under the weight of its own material. Inspired by a true story, it’s a complex yet circular tale, with a plot that includes the disappearance of young Tessie Durst (Bianca Belle), the murder of Cleo, an assassination attempt on state senator Myrtle Summers (Angela Robinson) — plus illegal gambling, corruption, misogyny, and a web of secrets and lies from its ensemble, all set amid racial tensions in 1960s Baltimore.
It is a lot — but the confident execution from Honey Boy’s Alma Har’el (who directs all seven episodes) makes this an engaging watch. Cleo and Maddie are the anchors to this tale, the story weaving between Black and Jewish lifestyles and cultures, which sets the women on a dramatic collision course of revelation and danger. The beauty is how its twisty slow-burn mystery keeps everything connected.
It is consistently surprising and compelling.
There is a surreal, stylish approach here, cut from similar cloth as HBO’s Big Little Lies and Sharp Objects in how it integrates more otherworldly moments with characters’ recollections of events. The mood jolts sharply between dream-like scenarios and nightmarish reality; at times, its mesmeric images can verge into style-over-substance territory. But for the most part, that flair is backed up by considerable narrative heft. It is consistently surprising and compelling.
Equally rewarding are the performances from Portman and Ingram. Both of their characters seek freedom from their respective patriarchal cages and gender expectations, and carry that weight in every scene. Portman relishes every moment playing such a complicated and flawed figure, transforming herself from a bored housewife to a rising investigative journalist. When Tessie and Cleo’s murders unlock deep-rooted traumas and secrets from Maddie’s past, Portman’s unravelling performance shines through the ugliness of that journey.
But the real star of the show here is Ingram, whose poise and fearlessness encompasses all the guises of being a Black woman in America. It’s a first-rate performance from the actor, in which Cleo’s emotional development is driven by the love of her children and getting what’s fair. It’s no exaggeration to say that she steals every scene she’s in.
