X
- 2021
- TV-MA
- Apple TV+
- 2021
- TV-MA
- Apple TV+
- 2021
- TV-MA
- Apple TV+
- 2021
- TV-MA
- Apple TV+
Lisey's Story
Season 1 Premiere: Jun 4, 2021
49
5.4
All Seasons
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 26 Critic Reviews
49
27% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
50% Mixed
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
23% Negative
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 26 Critic Reviews
49
27% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
50% Mixed
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
23% Negative
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
The outright fantastical elements of “Lisey’s Story,” some being of the monster-in-the woods variety, feel at some point to be in conflict with the more palpable drama at hand. ... All the performances are first-rate. Mr. Owen is in rare form. ... Ms. Allen and Ms. Moore are extraordinary and, though she plays to type, Jennifer Jason Leigh is a treat as Darla, the third Debusher sister.
As the show progresses and the logistics of her journey come into sharper relief, it’s natural to wonder if all of this is worth it. It’s never an easy “yes,” but when the obfuscation starts to melt away and the show isn’t bent on delivering the extremes of human behavior, the punishing ride leads to a destination with some unexpected rewards.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 18 User Ratings
5.4
50% Positive
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
17% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
33% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 18 User Ratings
5.4
50% Positive
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
17% Mixed
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
33% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
Up to episode 4 now, and I can confidentiality say this miniseries is one of the best King adaptations made. Poetically written by the master himself, with absolutely stunning cinematography, and not to mention the freaking stacked cast, LISEY'S STORY is an absolute masterpiece. One part love story, one part maniac thriller, with a dash of trippy mysticism, the story King has brought to screen here is a perfectly balanced adaptation that manages to stay true to the source material. I can't wait for the second half.
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It swings for something big and cinematic and artistic and deep, which you may take as a good plan or a bad one. It is the sort of work that some will find ineffably beautiful and others unbearably tiresome. Acknowledging its prettiness and production values, and some excellent performances, I found it better than unbearable but something less than beautiful.
The overall problem in Lisey’s Story generally doesn’t concern the actors — or the director, since Larrain gives every frame intimacy, however much you sense his desire to buck the increased linearity of the story. No, the problem is the all-too-palpable battle between fidelity to a text and compatibility to a medium.
The series is overstuffed and airless.
Adapted exclusively by King from his own 2006 novel, Lisey's Story is a mess in almost every conceivable way. It's drawn from a leaden and forgettable novel, and King's ponderous attempt at a screenplay has done nothing to improve it. Neither has Chilean director Pablo Larrain's painfully arty translation of the written word into video. And while Lisey's Story is loaded with female star power—Julianne Moore, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Joan Allen play sisters—King and Larrain have given them little to do except look head-bangingly anguished or (in Allen's case) catatonic.
The indulgent and histrionic screenplay represents a final flourish of excess piled into a project already top-heavy to a fault.
I don't know why it's not in the top 10 of the best shows of 2021. Brilliant,poetic,addictive with an excellent performances by Julianne Moore,Jennifer Jason Leigh,Clive Owen and Dave DeHaan. Joan Allen should receive every single award for her outstanding interpretation of Amanda. Pablo Larrain did a great job. Love it.
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When I read Lisey's Story almost 14 years ago, it was one of the hardest books by Stephen King to read.
At that time I was 16, so I really didn't have an understanding of what a marriage in which you have shared so much with another person meant.
When I read it again in my mid-20's, I already had more life experience, so Lisey's Story managed to get a different meaning from me.
However, and even considering that I've always said the source material and the film are separate entities, I cannot deny that this adaptation by Pablo Larraín was far from satisfactory, and far from what the director has shown that he can do.
The series is incredibly well filmed. I loved the colors of Boo'ya Moon and loved the sobriety of the real world. But that's perhaps the most remarkable thing about it, because everything else just wasn't there.
The time management imposed by Larraín is bad and never achieves a sustained pace.
The editing was worse, especially since there are eight episodes, but they all end in an incredibly abrupt way. It's as if when editing the material they didn't know where to cut. Like a big 8-hour film
Anticlimactic moments are constant.
And the performances. What can I say about the performances? Just isappointing. Very disappointing.
Julianne Moore doesn't even make an effort. Clive Owen has one good moment or two, but his involvement is very short.
Joan Allen has a complicated character, but her performance never feels believable, Jennifer Jason Leigh is basically there as furniture while Dane DeHaan delivers an excessive perfomance, failing miserably in his portrayal of a psychopath.
That's the weakest link in this miniseries, and one of the elements that ends up making it the unexceptional story it ends up being.
I really thought this would be one of the few good adaptations of Stephen King, but not even with him on board writing the scripts it was possible.
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Production Company:
- Bad Robot
- Warner Bros. Television
Initial Release Date: Jun 4, 2021
Number of seasons: 1 Season
Rating: TV-MA
Awards
FilmLight Colour Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Camerimage
• 1 Nomination
Satellite Awards
• 1 Nomination
