Lady in the Lake (TV series)

Lady in the Lake is an American period drama television miniseries based on the novel of the same name by Laura Lippman. The series premiered on Apple TV+ on July 19, 2024.^[1] It is set during the 1960s.

Lady in the Lake
Genre	Period drama Mystery
Created by	Alma Har'el
Based on	Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman
Written by	Alma Har'el Briana Belser Nambi E. Kelley Boaz Yakin Sheila Wilson
Directed by	Alma Har'el
Starring	Natalie Portman Moses Ingram Y'lan Noel Brett Gelman Byron Bowers Noah Jupe Josiah Cross Mikey Madison Pruitt Taylor Vince
Theme music composer	Marcus Norris
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of episodes	7
Production
Executive producers	Alma Har'el Natalie Portman Boaz Yakin Amy Kaufman Christopher Leggett Jean-Marc Vallée Nathan Ross Julie Gardner Laura Lippman Sophie Mas Layne Eskridge
Producers	Amanda Lencioni Sheila Wilson
Production locations	Baltimore, Maryland
Cinematography	Lachlan Milne
Editors	Alma Har’el Yael Hersonski Dominic LaPerriere
Running time	44–54 minutes
Production companies	Bad Wolf America Crazyrose Zusa MountainA Fifth Season
Original release
Network	Apple TV+
Release	July 19 (2024-07-19) – August 23, 2024 (2024-08-23)

Lady in the Lake begins in Baltimore, with the disappearance of a young Jewish girl, Tessie Durst at a Christmas parade. The two lead characters are Maddie Schwartz (Natalie Portman), a Jewish housewife and mother, and Cleo Johnson (Moses Ingram), an African-American mother, wife and bartender. Tessie's disappearance and Cleo's murder mystery tap into Maddie's latent journalistic instincts.

The series was generally well received, with Portman and Ingram receiving acclaim for their performances.

Premise

In 1960s Baltimore, Maddie Schwartz, an investigative journalist, working on an unsolved murder clashes with a woman working to advance the agenda of the city's Black community. Maddie ditches her overbearing husband and Pikesville home to pursue a career as a newspaper reporter. She becomes obsessed with unraveling the mystery of two separate killings: eleven-year-old Tessie Durst and a bartender named Cleo Johnson.^[2]

Cast

Main

• Natalie Portman as Maddie Schwartz
• Moses Ingram as Cleo Johnson
• Y'lan Noel as Ferdie Platt
• Brett Gelman as Milton Schwartz
• Byron Bowers as Slappy Johnson
• Noah Jupe as Seth Schwartz
• Josiah Cross as Reggie Robinson
• Mikey Madison as Judith Weinstein
• Pruitt Taylor Vince as Bob Bauer

Recurring

• Wood Harris as Shell Gordon
• Dylan Arnold as Stephen Zawadzkie
• Tyrik Johnson as Teddy
• David Corenswet as Allan Durst
• Charlie Hofheimer as Wallace White
• Ronnie Gene Blevins as Officer Boško
• Mindy Goldberg as Tattie Morgenstern

Guest

• Jennifer Mogbock as Dora Carter
• Bianca Belle as Tessie Durst
• Veralyn Jones as Merva
• Mark Feuerstein as Hal Durst
• Angela Robinson as Myrtle Summer
• Samir Royal as Lionel Johnson
• Hallie Samuels as Mrs. Durst
• Masha Mashkova as Ms. Zawadzkie
• Nikiva Dionne as Patrice Murphy
• David Johnson III as Officer Percy Davis
• Selema Masekela as Cedrick
• Rebecca Spence as Louise Durst
• Daniel London as Dr. Kornblatt
• Sean Ringgold as The Prophet

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by [3]	Teleplay by [4]	Original release date [5]
1	"Did you know seahorses are fish?"	Alma Har'el	Alma Har'el	July 19, 2024 (2024-07-19)
2	"It has to do with the search for the marvelous."	Alma Har'el	Alma Har'el	July 19, 2024 (2024-07-19)
3	"I was the first to see her dead. You were the last to see her alive."	Alma Har'el	Briana Belser	July 26, 2024 (2024-07-26)
4	"Innocence leaves when you discover cruelty. First in others, then in yourself."	Alma Har'el	Nambi E. Kelley	August 2, 2024 (2024-08-02)
5	"Every time someone turns up dead in that lake, it does seem to lead to you."	Alma Har'el	Boaz Yakin	August 9, 2024 (2024-08-09)
6	"I know who killed Cleo Johnson."	Alma Har'el	Sheila Wilson and Alma Har'el	August 16, 2024 (2024-08-16)
7	"My story."	Alma Har'el	Boaz Yakin	August 23, 2024 (2024-08-23)

Production

Writing

The television series is based on the novel of the same name. Laura Lippman, the author, took inspiration from two real-life murders that happened in her youth.^[2] The first was the abduction and murder of 11-year-old Esther Lebowitz, a White Jewish girl whose death was heavily publicized.^[6][7][8] The second death was 33-year-old Shirley Parker, a Black woman who was found dead in the fountain of the Druid Hill Park Reservoir.^[9] Parker's death was only given attention in African-American newspapers, specifically the Baltimore Afro-American.^[10]

Casting

The miniseries was given the greenlight in March 2021, with Natalie Portman and Lupita Nyong'o set to star, and Alma Har'el set to direct all episodes of the series.^[3] In April 2022, Y'Lan Noel, Mikey Madison and Brett Gelman were added to the cast.^[11] In May 2022, Nyong'o exited the series.^[12][13] Moses Ingram would be cast to replace her in June.^[14] Noah Jupe, Mike Epps, Byron Bowers. Josiah Cross and Pruitt Taylor Vince would be added in July.^[15]

Filming

Filming began in April 2022,^[11] with production taking place in Baltimore.^[16] Production paused briefly in late August 2022, when the production purportedly received threats of violence while filming in the city.^[17] Police investigation showed the threats to have been unsubstantiated.^[18]

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 77% approval rating with an average rating of 7/10, based on 61 critic reviews. Natalie Portman received critical acclaim for her acting performance in the miniseries.^[19] The website's critics consensus reads, "Dense with intriguing drama if too muddled by digressions and stylistic flourishes, Lady in the Lake is a well-acted mystery with a lot on its mind."^[20] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 61 out of 100 based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[21]

Accolades

The series was nominated at the 23rd Visual Effects Society Awards in the category of Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode.^[22]