Here’s everything you need to know about the new “feverish noir thriller”.

By Morgan Cormack

Published: Wednesday, 10 July 2024 at 15:01 PM


Apple TV+ are no stranger to drawing in the big names when it comes to their series and Lady in the Lake is no different.

Led by Academy award-winner Natalie Portman and Emmy nominee Moses Ingram (The Queen’s Gambit), the new seven-part series takes on a journey to 1960s Baltimore as the disappearance of a young girl grips the city.

But it’s in the midst of this tragedy that our two leads, Maddie (Portman) and Cleo (Ingram) cross paths as Maddie starts to uncover more about Cleo’s death.

The new series has been directed by Alma Har’el, known for her directorial film debut Honey Boy, and is adapted from Laura Lippman’s well known mystery novel. Described as a “feverish noir thriller”, the series is set to be “an unexpected tale of the price women pay for their dreams”.

Keen to know more about Lady in the Lake? Read on to find out everything about the Apple TV+ drama.

Lady in the Lake release date

The new series premieres on Apple TV+ on Friday 19th July.

As is often the case with Apple releases, the series will debut with its first two episodes on the streamer and then switch to a weekly release for the remaining episodes. That means that new instalments will be released every Friday with the finale set to air on Friday 23rd August.

Lady in the Lake cast

Mikey Madison and Natalie Portman standing in the middle of a room and looking confused at someone.
Mikey Madison and Natalie Portman in Lady in the Lake.
Apple TV+

Natalie Portman and Moses Ingram lead the cast as Maddie Schwartz and Cleo Sherwood respectively, two women whose lives seem at complete opposite ends of the spectrum. Initially, Lupita Nyong’o was cast as Cleo but exited the series due to “logistical reasons”, director Har’el has said in an interview with Variety.

The cast of Lady in the Lake also includes Insecure‘s Y’lan Noel and Fleabag‘s Brett Gelman, as well as others.

The full cast list for Lady in the Lake is as follows:

  • Natalie Portman as Maddie Schwartz
  • Moses Ingram as Cleo Sherwood
  • Y’lan Noel as Ferdie Platt
  • Brett Gelman as Milton
  • Byron Bowers as Slappy
  • Noah Jupe as Seth 
  • Josiah Cross as Reggie Robinson
  • Mikey Madison as Judith Weinstein
  • Pruitt Taylor Vince as Bob Bauer

Lady in the Lake plot

Moses Ingram dancing in the middle of a hall wearing make-up and a black dress, in the middle of dancing.
Moses Ingram in Lady in the Lake.
Apple TV+

Adapted from the Laura Lippman 2019 novel of the same name, the new Apple TV+ series is set to take viewers on quite the twist-filled journey through Baltimore.

According to the synopsis: “When the disappearance of a young girl grips the city of Baltimore on Thanksgiving 1966, the lives of two women converge on a fatal collision course. Maddie Schwartz (Portman) is a Jewish housewife seeking to shed a secret past and reinvent herself as an investigative journalist, and Cleo Sherwood (Ingram) is a mother navigating the political underbelly of Black Baltimore while struggling to provide for her family.

“Their disparate lives seem parallel at first, but when Maddie becomes fixated on Cleo’s mystifying death, a chasm opens that puts everyone around them in danger. From visionary director Alma Har’el, Lady in the Lake emerges as a feverish noir thriller and an unexpected tale of the price women pay for their dreams.”

Fans of the book will know that there’s quite the twist to come and it seems as though the series will honour that – and then some.

In an interview with Variety, director Har’el revealed: “I think people just have to buckle up and go on the ride, because, from Episode 5 onwards, you have to experience it. Nothing I can say can prepare you for it, but I definitely would say that the twist of the book has only been expanded on.”

Is there a trailer for Lady in the Lake?

There is! While the trailer starts off as a look into what seems to be a typical mystery drama, it soon amps up the chaos and will surely leave you with many questions going into the series.

Watch the trailer for yourself below.