Mare of Easttown: Kate Winslet's masterclass (review)

As much as the concept of the tormented local cop is hardly new, the performance of the British actress, combined with striking writing, make this mini-series a brilliant criminal drama.

When The Regimethe new series by Kate Winsletarrives on HBO (and Prime Video via the Warner Pass in France), M6 broadcasts its event show in clear for the first time Mare of Easttown. This caused a sensation in spring 2021 on this same American channel. We are republishing our review, as well as articles devoted to the making of this very successful thriller, to wait until the first episode, scheduled at 9:10 p.m.

You'll have a hard time recognizing Rose DeWitt Bukater in Mare Sheehan! Kate Winslet has come a long way since Titanic and at 45, the British actress is the type to like a challenge. These absolute compositional roles, which require maximum investment, not to say total dedication to the cause of one's art. Like when she spent 7 minutes underwater, in apnea, to Avatar 2. No need to play Jacques Mayol to Mare of Easttowneven if it is true that the HBO crime mini-series is a suffocating dive into the life of a small town in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

Easttown is a town of barely 10,000 souls, located on the American east coast, without economic power or particular cultural diversity. A small, ordinary town in Pennsylvania, traumatized by the disappearance of a little girl a year earlier. A case that the local detective, Inspector Mare Sheehan, was unable to solve. Divorced, unhappy in her life and entangled in a chaotic family situation, the policewoman suddenly finds herself faced with a new sordid crime: the brutal murder of a 17-year-old girl, a teenage mother…

Kate Winslet got his hands dirty for this larger than life role. The Englishwoman from Reading, raised in Berkshire, must have transformed into a pure Pennsylvanian. Because Mare of Easttown is a naturalistic series, filmed in the real Easttown region, and written by a local (Brad Ingelsby, author of the 7 episodes). A drama that depicts an American community, the relationships that develop over the years, the drama that arises. Mare Sheehan lives every day with this asset and this curse of knowing all her neighbors, all the citizens of the city, whom she meets again and again on the route of her investigations.

A character that Kate Winslet worked particularly early, spending time mastering the rural Pennsylvania accent, “an accent that drove me completely crazy honestly, because it contains varying degrees“, the actress, who was also involved for several months with the city's police department, recently told us: “I was able to spend time in the real local police station. I was able to follow this woman, a police sergeant, an investigator, who was incredible with me. Very supportive.”

The result is worth the effort. With Mare of Easttown, Kate Winslet delivers a masterclass, elusive wounded cop, by turns depressed, funny, fierce and infuriating. Without a doubt, she is already moving forward as an unavoidable favorite of the next awards season.

It must be said that Craig Zobel – the director of the very controversial The Hunt last year – who directed the entire series, sets its sprawling scene so intensely that its star has plenty of room to unleash his talent. The human drama of Easttown, boosted by perfect supporting roles (Julianne Nicholson, Evan Peters, Jean Smart or Guy Pearce), quickly takes over the criminal case itself (who is the killer?). The city turns out to be a character in its own right, at least as fascinating as the investigation.

Because Mare of Easttown does not reinvent the already well-worn genre of tormented cops, drowned in a sordid affair (we think in turn of True Detective has Broadchurch or to Top of the Lake). The series touches on all the clichés of the concept, but manages to transcend it. Because ultimately all the strength of the series is announced in the title: Mare And Easttown !

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