Mare of Easttown

Winslet is in stunning form as the put-upon but never downtrodden cop and matriarch. ... This is high-end telly at its best, packed with intrigue, suspicion, horror and reluctant heroics.

Though it may sound pretty grim, Mare of Easttown never feels like overkill or "tragedy porn," as they say. Instead, sadly, it just feels nauseatingly realistic. ..... It's both a physically and emotionally demanding role, and the certifiably excellent Winslet delivers an Emmy-worthy performance if there ever was one.

"Mare of Easttown" doesn't go so far as to reinvent the detective story, it does offer a version of the tale more nuanced and thoughtful than the vast majority of its peers. ... Its characters are deeply real and expertly drawn, its sense of place firmly established and specific, and its clues genuinely shocking. It's an intense and satisfying to watch, going to places your average murder mystery wouldn't aspire.

Mare of Easttown is much easier to watch than I Know This Much Is True, Mark Ruffalo’s joyless HBO miniseries from last year, and much of that is down to its star. Mare’s undimmable despite the encompassing gloom. Thanks to her, Easttown feels surprisingly warm for a town full of dead teenagers.

The crime story has disturbing echoes of all too many series built around the murder of young women. What keeps “Mare of Easttown” watchable are the terrific actors, who make the most out of their characters, who are drawn with nuance and depth.

The series regularly introduces suspects and leads—from the short-tempered dad to the shady priest to secret journals—indulging the allure of armchair crime-solving while resisting neat resolutions. But the detective work is merely scaffolding for the show’s beguiling dive into Easttown’s psyche.

Some style in the direction or honest feeling in the screenplay could have mitigated the dreariness, but “Mare” doesn’t offer much beyond Ben Richardson’s burnished cinematography. ... The script doesn’t give Winslet enough to do beyond suffering and lashing out ... [Later episodes] may give Winslet more room to operate, but it probably won’t make “Mare of Easttown” any less obvious or colorless.

kate winslet, jean smart, julianne nicholson. I laughed, I cried, I had many epiphanies.

I liked it at first, but mostly because it took place kinda near me (we'll, the town is fictional, but they got the Delco accent down fairly well). It lost me about midway though. The mystery was a let down and it didn't bottle the ends. It's not a place I want to go back to. They're not characters I find compelling. Honestly, that town **** and I wouldn't want to live there.

Slow, slow. Too many uninteresting characters. Too much feeling, no content.

The first episode was bad & got worse as they progressed. The last one was embarrassing.

Another boring suburban murder mystery played by "quality" actor Winslet so it would feel like something deep and meaningful. Do these creators know that there are so much more to life than these made-up stories. Please give us some real life television, because I could not go through much of these series, because every next step is basically predictable. What a waste!