Apple TV+’s Riveting 1960s Crime Drama Delivers Career-Best Performances

Lady in the Lake marks a career first for Academy Award-winning actor Natalie Portman, who has dabbled in television, but never appeared in a series for more than a guest or hosting stint. While the May December star is the limited series’ biggest name, Portman’s starpower never overtakes the Apple TV+ drama — in part because she performs opposite Emmy-nominated actor Moses Ingram. Most viewers know Ingram from The Queen’s Gambit or Obi-Wan Kenobi, but that is about to change. Put simply, Ingram’s career-best performance in Lady in the Lake is sure to make her a household name.

Based on Laura Lippman’s 2019 bestselling novel of the same name, Lady in the Lake is set in 1966 Baltimore and opens with the murder of 11-year-old Tessie Durst, who wanders off from her parents to look for seahorses in an exotic fish store. Meanwhile, two women cross paths — frustrated Jewish homemaker Maddie Schwartz (Portman) and the ever-determined, job-juggling Cleo Johnson (Ingram). When Maddie’s cut of lamb mars her outfit with blood, she spots Cleo modeling a perfect replacement dress in a department store window. The two stare through the glass, and through each other.

From Maddie’s point of view, everything is a story waiting to be told. Moments of happenstance are recast as serendipity. Cleo, on the other hand, rejects tidy explanations, especially when it’s someone else’s version of her story. One of the most compelling parts of Lady in the Lake is the way it interrogates the very nature of storytelling — the narratives we hide, the narratives we tell, and the power that comes from choosing what to do with a story.

Moses Ingram & Natalie Portman Deliver Compelling, Lived-In Performances

Lady in the Lake’s ensemble cast bolsters the period crime drama

Any logline about the show or book will tell you that Maddie ditches her less-than-happy marriage to make her mark on the world and chase her high school dream of becoming an investigative journalist. In a secondary way, that logline may refer to Cleo as a woman who’s navigating a strained marriage, motherhood, multiple jobs, and the social and political advancement of Baltimore’s Black community. That’s because the book positions Maddie as the connective tissue between the murder of Tessie and, eventually, the murder of Cleo. “You’re interested in my death, not my life,” Cleo’s ghost scolds Maddie in the novel.

In a refreshing turn, the limited series does a better job of giving Cleo and Maddie’s stories equal weight. While Lippman’s novel hinges on the notion that if Cleo were white, every newspaper would be telling the story of her disappearance and death, the book doesn’t quite give Cleo the agency she deserves. Part of that shift is thanks to the new medium. As we watch Maddie embark on her new life, we also gain insight into Cleo’s day-to-day life.

While Cleo’s narration over certain scenes, in which she speaks directly to Maddie, mimics her ghostly presence in the book, it doesn’t feel like the lady in the lake is powerless. Instead, it’s quite the opposite. The show’s structure and ordering of events helps, but it’s in large part due to Ingram’s powerhouse performance. She’s able to imbue Cleo with so much life. Thanks to Ingram, Cleo Johnson doesn’t just have a backstory, she has a past and a present. Her life is both painful and joyful, beautifully warm and necessarily searing — often in the same breath.

Unlike her character, Portman knows when to wait in the wings or take center stage. Maddie pulls on threads from Natalie Portman’s best movies, including her Jackie and May December characters. Maddie’s “ambition,” which she often reminds people of, is fierce and admirable, but it’s also delivered with a sad, yet pitch-perfect obliviousness. The rest of the ensemble cast is also impressive, with standout performances from Y’lan Noel, who plays police officer Ferdie Platt; Wood Harris, who plays the ruthless businessman Shell Gordon; and Josiah Cross, who plays Reggie Robinson, Shell’s right-hand man.

Lady In The Lake Takes Risks While Building An Immersive 1966 World

The Apple TV+ series also doesn’t shy away from the time period’s racism or classism

At its core, Lady in the Lake is a crime drama that presents several mysteries. First, there’s the murder of Tessie Durst, but even the first episode hints at Cleo’s impending death. The series knows how to take its time, allowing the world of 1966 Baltimore to feel more real and lived-in before it piles on the tragedy and plot twists. That said, Lady in the Lake benefits from a marathon viewing. The first few episodes struggle to find their footing, but by episode 3 it’s near-impossible to not be wholly transported into the period drama’s world.

Perhaps surprisingly, Lady in the Lake also goes all in on strange imagery, from hospital hallways with the water-logged plants of a fish tank to imagined funerals and dream-logic dance sequences that reveal hidden truths. The penultimate episode is full of startlingly weird moments, but this kind of imagery is cleverly introduced, little by little, throughout the series. While circumstances may be a loose link between Cleo and Maddie, deferred dreams and immersive daydreams are a shared theme.

From its detailed worldbuilding and fully realized characters to its intriguing mysteries and dream-like images, Lady in the Lake has a lot going for it. Although there are early moments that don’t quite hit, the series manages to stick an incredibly intricate landing, especially considering just how many themes, questions, and mysteries it raises. In many ways, Lady in the Lake is Apple TV+’s best crime drama yet.

The first two episodes of Lady in the Lake premiere July 19 on Apple TV+. The remaining five episodes will air weekly through August 23, 2034.

When the disappearance of a young girl grips the city of Baltimore on Thanksgiving 1966, the lives of two women converge on a fatal collision course. Maddie Schwartz (Portman), a Jewish housewife seeking to shed a secret past and reinvent herself as an investigative journalist, and Cleo Sherwood (Ingram), a mother navigating the political underbelly of Black Baltimore while struggling to provide for her family. Their disparate lives seem parallel at first, but when Maddie becomes fixated on Cleo’s mystifying death, a chasm opens that puts everyone around them in danger. From visionary director Alma Har’el, “Lady in the Lake” emerges as a feverish noir thriller and an unexpected tale of the price women pay for their dreams.

Pros

• Lady in the Lake has intriguing imagery
• Moses Ingram delivers a powerhouse performance and Natalie Portman is also great
• The story and characters are well-rounded and compelling
• The series doesn’t avoid tackling race and social topics

Cons

• The first couple of episodes are a bit slow to get going