Mare of Easttown | |
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Official poster | |
Genre | Crime drama |
Created by | Brad Ingelsby |
Written by | Brad Ingelsby |
Directed by | Craig Zobel |
Starring | |
Music by | Lele Marchitelli |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of episodes | 1 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producer | Karen Wacker |
Cinematography | Ben Richardson |
Editor | Amy E. Duddleston |
Running time | 57–60 minutes |
Production companies |
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Release | |
Original network | HBO |
Picture format | HDTV 1080i |
Original release | April 18, 2021 present | –
External links | |
Website |
Mare of Easttown is an American crime drama miniseries created by Brad Ingelsby that premiered on HBO on April 18, 2021.[1]
A detective in a small Pennsylvania town investigates a local murder while trying to keep her life from falling apart.
In January 2019, it was reported that Brad Ingelsby, creator of the limited series, would write all episodes, with Gavin O'Connor directing. Executive producers include Ingelsby, O'Connor, Kate Winslet, Paul Lee, Mark Roybal, and Gordon Gray.[2][3][4] In January 2020, it was announced that Craig Zobel would replace O'Connor as director due to scheduling issues and also serve as executive producer.[5]
It was announced in January 2019 that Kate Winslet had been cast to star in the HBO miniseries that would be filmed on-location in suburban Philadelphia.[6] In September 2019, the cast was rounded out with Julianne Nicholson, Jean Smart, Angourie Rice, Evan Peters, Cailee Spaeny and David Denman.[7] John Douglas Thompson, Patrick Murney, Ben Miles, Katie Kreisler, James McArdle, Sosie Bacon, Joe Tippett, Neal Huff were cast in October 2019.[8] In February 2021, it was announced that Guy Pearce joined the cast, replacing Miles in his role. In the same month, Mackenzie Lansing, Kate Arrington, Ruby Cruz, James Easter Bradford, Elisa Davis, Enid Graham, Justin Hurtt-Dunkley, Izzy King, Jack Mulhern, Anthony Norman, Drew Scheid, and Madeline Weinstein were cast in the limited series.[9][10]
Filming of the show began in the fall of 2019 in and around Philadelphia and was reported to still be in progress as of March 2020, with plans to continue through April.[6][11] However, production was shut down early due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12] In early September 2020, a Philadelphia news station reported that filming was set to resume within the month.[13]
Because the story is set in a fictionalized version of Easttown Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, which is where series creator Brad Ingelsby was born, there were discussions about whether to use the "Delco accent", which is a version of Philadelphia English common in neighboring Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It was Winslet who insisted that the accent be used, despite being a particularly difficult accent to learn, because she felt the community itself was an important character in the story, and the authentic accent would help emphasize that.[14] She has claimed that it was so difficult to learn the accent that it caused her to "throw things".[15]
No. | Title | Directed by [16] | Written by [2] | Original air date [17] | U.S. viewers (millions) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Miss Lady Hawk Herself" | Craig Zobel | Brad Ingelsby | April 18, 2021 | 0.600[18] | |
In the small community of Easttown, Detective Mare Sheehan is called on to reopen the year-old investigation into a missing girl named Katie Bailey when the girl's mother, Dawn, speaks out on the news about the unsolved case. Mare does not believe Katie will be found. She is also called to investigate a prowler supposedly peeping in windows, and a break-in where she sprains her ankle chasing the suspect. Mare has some local fame for winning a basketball game with a difficult shot in high school, and attends the 25th anniversary commemorating the game. Afterward she meets Richard, an author who recently moved to town, and the two have sex. Richard pursues a relationship with Mare, but she insists it was a one-night stand. Meanwhile Erin McMenamin, a local teenage mother, struggles to find the funds for a surgery to treat her baby's ear infection. Her abusive father Kenny refuses to pay for it, as does her ex-boyfriend Dylan, who fathered the child and has split custody. Erin looks forward to meeting Brendan, a boy she has been texting. However, when she arrives at the park where they plan to meet that night, it turns out "Brendan" was a catfish set up by Dylan's violently territorial new girlfriend Brianna, who ambushes Erin with a group of friends and beats her. This is witnessed by Mare's daughter Siobhan, who comes to Erin's aid. Erin escapes into the wilderness, but the next morning her dead body is found naked in the river with a severe head wound. | ||||||
2 | "Fathers"[19] | Craig Zobel | Brad Ingelsby | April 25, 2021 | TBD | |
3 | "Enter Number Two"[20] | Craig Zobel | Brad Ingelsby | May 2, 2021 | TBD | |
4 | "Poor Sisyphus"[21] | Craig Zobel | Brad Ingelsby | May 9, 2021 | TBD | |
5 | "Illusions"[22] | Craig Zobel | Brad Ingelsby | May 16, 2021 | TBD | |
6 | "Sore Must Be The Storm"[23] | Craig Zobel | Brad Ingelsby | May 23, 2021 | TBD | |
7 | "Sacrament"[24] | Craig Zobel | Brad Ingelsby | May 30, 2021 | TBD |
The limited series premiered on April 18, 2021.[1]
Mare of Easttown received critical acclaim. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series has an approval rating of 91% based on 64 reviews, with an average rating of 7.81/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Grounded by a career-best Kate Winslet, Mare of Easttown's ambitions at times exceed its reach, but its central mystery is supported by such strong sense of place and character it hardly matters."[25] On Metacritic, the series has a weighted average score of 81 out of 100 based on reviews from 37 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[26]
Inkoo Kang of The Hollywood Reporter gave it a mostly positive review, and called it "Uneven, but masterfully suspenseful".[27]
No. | Title | Air date | Rating/share (18–49) |
Viewers (millions) |
DVR (18–49) |
DVR viewers (millions) |
Total (18–49) |
Total viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Miss Lady Hawk Herself" | April 18, 2021 | 0.08 | 0.600[18] | TBD | TBD | TBD | TBD |