Official Trailer:

Mare of Easttown – Doing something great is overrated. Because then people expect that from you all the time. What they don’t realize is you’re just as screwed up as they are

I am all for small town murder-mystery dramas. If done well, great. Whether it is movies like Fargo, Mystic River, Stand by me, or series like Trapped. Series format gives ample room for the writers and directors to explore the relationships and backstories in depth. This makes the characters intriguing and interesting with its multitudes. Take Mare, the protagonist from Mare of Easttown, the limited series (7 episodes) from HBO. Mare had lost her son to drugs and suicide. She is divorced. She is living with her mom, daughter, and grandson. She is in a custody battle with her grandson’s mother. Unable to come to terms with her son’s suicide. And then the pressures from the professional front. Kate Winslet pitches the multilayered character impeccably – a bit brash, loathsome (sometimes), fraudulent (when she plants the drug to frame her grandson’s mother). We see this with other players too in Easttown, like Helen, Lori, Frank, Siobhan, Colin Zabel. Of course, all these need to be woven into the narration seamlessly and not just to increase the running time. This is where Mare of Easttown team has done an admirable job in fleshing out the characters. It keeps us invested in them. As the story unfolds with its twists, the relationships get tested, strained. Secrets get exposed. It may come across as disheartening to see many characters with flaws or going through some angst, hurt, or sorrow, but to me it made the series realistic and human. No, the series is not as gloomy as I make it out to be😄 There is love, compassion, redemption, and resilience. Exchanges between Mare and Helen are full of comebacks with sarcastic humor. Series does end on a positive note, filled with resilience and love. As the layers of secrets gets peeled off, the question remains, do you know really know a person? Do you?