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Mare of Easttown… because in a place called Easttown, Kate Winslet plays Mare Sheehan, a detective investigating the disappearance a young woman called Katie – a known drug abuser, who’s still not been seen in a year, whilst our lead also has a limp and a crap personal life, often ending up with men that she shouldn’t.
In addition to a young daughter, Siobhan (Angourie Rice – The Nice Guys) – who sneaks out to parties and gets on her mother’s nerves, Mare doesn’t suffer fools gladly, and is quite sarcastic with it. She’s also nicknamed Miss Lady Hawk, because she made a great shot in a basketball game 25 years ago, which she points out is something noteworthy in her backwater town, but wouldn’t be a big deal anywhere else, but since it’s been all this time, a ceremony is about to be made in her honour.
This first episode – and it’s one per week out of seven episodes in total – mostly seems to just introduce the main characters and do not too much else. These include Mare’s ex, Frank (David Denman), who’s getting engaged to new beau Faye (Kate Arrington); young ex-couple Erin (Cailee Spaeny) and Dylan (Jack Mulhern), who have split up but have a young son who needs surgery on his ears – plus Erin has a father who’s rather a shouty wanker, and Dylan’s new girlfriend, Brianna (Mackenzie Lansing), is giving Erin a hard time because she doesn’t want her getting in touch with him, despite the necessity due to the child. However, things are on the up because she has a hot date planned.
Oh, and there’s an actor who’s been around even longer than Kate Winslet in Guy Pearce (2019’s A Christmas Carol), who takes the role of University lecturer in creative writing Richard Ryan.
Beyond that, we know there is a murder still to come about in this opener, though, and by the morning, the corpse is fresh, but who’s dead and who is the criminal?
So, there’s a few things going on in this one-off series, and it’s a decent start, but every episode is weekly, so you’ll have to wait to see how it pans out. I’ll stick with it. Guy Pearce is a great actor, as is Kate Winslet, although she has gone ground to make up after the tedious Ammonite.
On the downside, Mare Of Easttown‘s initial foray first episode feels like we’re walking into a soap opera that’s been on for several months, and we’re playing catch-up with their backstories.
Mare of Easttown is not yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, continues on HBO on Sundays, and Sky Atlantic on Mondays.
Episode 1 Score: 6/10
Director: Craig Zobel
Producer: Karen Wacker
Writer/Creator: Brad Ingelsby
Music: Lele Marchitelli
Mare Sheehan: Kate Winslet
Richard Ryan: Guy Pearce
Siobhan Sheehan: Angourie Rice
Erin McMenamin: Cailee Spaeny
Dylan Hinchey: Jack Mulhern
Brianna: Mackenzie Lansing
Lori Ross: Julianne Nicholson
Helen: Jean Smart
Frank Sheehan: David Denman
Father Dan Hastings: Neal Huff
Richard Ryan: Guy Pearce
Erin McMenamin: Cailee Spaeny
Chief Carter: John Douglas Thompson
John Ross: Joe Tippett
Ryan Ross: Cameron Mann
Kenny McMenamin: Patrick Murney
Drew Sheehan: Izzy King
Moira Ross: Kassie Mundhenk
Jan Kelly: Patsy Meck
Faye: Kate Arrington
Jess Riley: Ruby Cruz
Beth Hanlon: Chinasa Ogbuagu
Officer Ronald Trammel: Justin Hurtt-Dunkley
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.