Mare of Easttown

 

In a small town in eastern Pennsylvania, Mare Sheehan (Kate Winslet) is a former high school basketball star turned police detective. Following her son’s suicide, she is locked in a custody battle over her grandson with the baby’s ex-addict mother, and she is plagued by being unable to find a friend’s daughter after a mysterious disappearance. When another teen girl turns up dead, Mare is reluctantly partnered with a county detective, Colin Zabel (Evan Peters). With a list of suspects that includes the girl’s former boyfriend, his jealous new girlfriend, and a priest with a dark past, the two detectives will need to learn to work together in a hurry.

 

Created by Pennsylvania native Brad Ingelsby and directed by Craig Zobel, Mare of Easttown (HBO) plays like a Keystone State miniseries version of Mystic River, and that’s hardly a bad thing. Deftly written and powerfully acted with a strong sense of place and character, Mare of Easttown uses the mystery at its center to pull viewers into an exploration of addiction, loss, and the difficulty of forgiveness.

 

A disheveled, downtrodden, oft-vaping Winslet is excellent in the title role. Mare is a tenacious and skilled investigator, but she also displays a detestable side as she struggles to keep her family close and piece her life back together. In Winslet’s hands, she’s believable and magnetic, and the actress also nails a Philadelphia-area accent (evident in “phone” and “home”). Jean Smart gives a humorous supporting turn as Mare’s acerbic mom while Angourie Rice is solid as her troubled daughter. Peters, often cast in weirdo or comic relief roles, is more down to earth here, but he’s far from dull. The same cannot be said for Guy Pearce, however. He’s also given a break from his usual sinister/creepy casting, but his underwritten nice-guy literature professor makes for a bland, one-note romantic interest for Mare.

 

The hard-bitten Easttown of the screen is a considerably bleaker place than the actual township that shares its name, and the show’s litany of tragedies can feel exhausting at times, but Mare of Easttown is a well-crafted slice of small-town anguish.