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CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
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Positive:
16
Mixed:
12
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews
The GuardianJul 18, 2024
Jul 19, 2024
Season 1 Review:
The show comes across as more curious than didactic about the many social issues it raises; whenever ethics come up, motives get murky. That balance works well, even if the antagonists in this (ostensible) two-hander barely ever meet on-screen. Clocking in at a modest seven episodes, this adaptation manages to feel both expansive and propulsive; it might not feature as many points of view as the novel, but it still feels like a page-turner.
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Jul 18, 2024
Season 1 Review:
Though she sometimes errs toward the dreamy and diaphanous at the cost of coherence, creator, writer, and director Alma Har’el (Honey Boy) mostly manages to do justice to her uncommonly complicated characters without sacrificing the wild plot twists or binge-inducing suspense that are among the pleasures we expect from this type of show.
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Jul 18, 2024
Season 1 Review:
The mystery itself isn’t what’s notable about “Lady in the Lake.” It’s the characters, and the communities they populate. .... Cross’ performance is patient, never showy, but draws you in throughout. But it’s Portman and, to a lesser extent, Ingram who carry the series.
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ColliderJul 18, 2024
Season 1 Review:
Filled with several powerful performances (particularly from Portman and Ingram), dilemmas that sadly still ring true, and visual and musical elements that contribute to the series' lavish look, this Apple TV+ original might not appeal to the masses, but it's still a production that excels through distinct attention to detail.
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IndieWireJul 19, 2024
Season 1 Review:
Time jumps and intricate plots can feel taxing and, like many vibe-heavy endeavors, if you aren’t attuned to its rhythms, it’s easy to drift off entirely. But the series is just as easy to admire for how thoroughly it subverts expectations, as well as its exhaustive love for its leads. There’s enough truth here to make the search worthwhile.
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TV Guide MagazineAug 1, 2024
Season 1 Review:
Portman is especially good as the restless Maddie. [5 - 25 Aug 2024, p.4]
Jul 19, 2024
Season 1 Review:
Overall, not a minute is wasted with key information packed into every frame, each minuscule element filling in another piece of these multilayered and intersecting stories, guided by a cast that grasps and leans into the complexity of its setting. Were it not for Portman dragging the series down, it would be a must-watch. As it stands, skip the sixth episode altogether and the rest fits together a lot better.
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Jul 19, 2024LooperJul 18, 2024
Season 1 Review:
Issues aside, "Lady in the Lake" is a very watchable, often compelling series led by two brilliant actresses who give it their all in episode after episode. It's not necessarily on its way to being the next great Apple TV+ sensation, but if you like period dramas and crime stories, you'll find a lot to love here.
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iJul 19, 2024
Season 1 Review:
It’s not bad by any stretch of the imagination – the acting is good, the atmosphere undeniable – but its not as good as Natalie Portman would want it to be, either. It takes more than just a couple of dead bodies and some miserable women to make a thriller watchable.
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Jul 19, 2024
Season 1 Review:
Jewish housewife Natalie Portman and Black activist Moses Ingram, both terrific, fight to stand on their own in racially torn 1960s Baltimore. Too bad that this admirably ambitious series is never more substantial than a valiant effort, a haunting story haltingly told.
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Jul 18, 2024
Season 1 Review:
Lady in the Lake could have been good. But instead, like Maddie’s peers’ half-hearted search for the ladies in the lake, the series itself only skims the melodramatic surface, failing to actually investigate the legitimate, meaningful humanity that lies just within, content with what they’ve found and never quite going deep enough to hit anything that feels like truth.
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Jul 18, 2024
Season 1 Review:
There’s no amount of style or showiness that can overcome the writing that keeps Lady in the Lake’s sputtering forward. Its most intriguing mystery ultimately has nothing to do with Maddie or Cleo: It’s about why Portman chose this to be her first TV show in the first place.
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Jul 18, 2024
Season 1 Review:
Har’el buries the tale in puzzling surrealist moments. Consequently, Ingram’s Cleo is positioned as a bystander in her own story, allowing Portman’s Maddie to emerge as insufferable and obnoxious. .... The series fails to sustain any suspenseful tension. Instead, it simply regurgitates what is already known.
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