Apple TV+’s ‘Lady in the Lake’ gets intriguingly fantastical new trailer [Watch]

So it turns out Apple TV+’s “Lady in the Lake” looks different than some had expected. 

The Natalie Portman-led limited series is described as “a feverish noir thriller and an unexpected tale of the price women pay for their dreams.” Based on the information released so far, it seemed like a 1960s period piece/murder mystery/character drama about an investigative journalist who prioritizes her career over her family. 

But the new trailer for the series reveals dreamlike fantasy sequences, narration from beyond the grave, and unsettling psychological thriller flourishes. This is “Black Swan” Portman as much as “Jackie” Portman. 

Academy Award winner Portman, who also serves as executive producer, stars as Maddie Schwartz, a Jewish journalist in late ‘60s Baltimore who becomes obsessed with the unsolved murder of Cleo Johnson (“The Queen’s Gambit” breakout Moses Ingram), a Black woman who was found floating in a reservoir. It tells both the story of how Johnson ended up there, and Schwartz’s quest to find out why. 

The cast also includes Brett Gelman, Y’lan Noel, Mikey Madison, Noah Jupe, Dylan Arnold, and, the trailer reveals, Baltimore TV legend Wood Harris, who played Avon Barksdale on “The Wire.” The series is written and directed by Alma Har’el (“Honey Boy”) and based on a novel of the same name by Laura Lippman. 

Lupita Nyong’o was originally set to star alongside Portman, but she left the project before filming began. 

“Lady in the Lake” premieres July 19 with the first two episodes of seven.  

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