Kate Winslet shines in HBO’s Mare of Easttown

Mare is the only detective of the town’s small police force and she spends most of her time investigating small burglaries. In the back of her mind, however, is the unsolved case of a teenage girl who has been missing for over a year. This suddenly becomes her major focus when another girl goes missing, and another one gets murdered.

Mare is driven to solve the crimes, but she often makes bad calls that can (and sometimes do) backfire on her. She is continually harassed by the mother of the first missing girl, who herself is suffering from cancer, and her own police boss is not always as supportive as he should be. Winslet portrays Mare with such empathy, showing hoe the character bears the pressure of her problematic and demanding family and her job. At the same time, she is constantly frustrated at not being able to solve what happened to the missing girls.

Writer Brad Ingelsby packs his complicated plot with cliffhangers that make us sympathize with Mare even more.

Director Craig Zobel has cast the seven-part series with some really talented actors in supporting roles. Guy Pearce plays a newcomer writer who tries his best to woo Mare; Evan Peters plays a detective sent by the county to help Mare, but he takes a shine to her; Neal Duff plays the local priest who doesn’t hit on Mare, as he is actually her cousin.