AVERAGE

In 1960s Baltimore, Maddie Schwartz (Natalie Portman) becomes so frustrated with her family’s lack of interest in the disappearance of an 11-year-old girl that she leaves them to find out what happened.

The novel behind this ambitious miniseries was inspired by two real-life killings; as Maddie turns to investigative reporting she becomes obsessed with another murder, that of a Black woman, whose life we also follow in flashbacks.

There is so much to unpack here in terms of racism, misogyny and cultural traditions. It’s bursting with creativity – to a distracting degree, with constant time jumps and visual flourishes.

2024-U.S. 368 min. Color. Created and directed by Alma Har’el. Novel: Laura Lippman. Cinematography: Lachlan Milne. Cast: Natalie Portman (Maddie Schwartz), Moses Ingram (Cleo Johnson), Y’lan Noel (Ferdie Platt), Brett Gelman, Byron Bowers, Noah Jupe, Pruitt Taylor Vince, David Corenswet.

Trivia: Originally shown in seven episodes. Co-executive produced by Portman, Boaz Yakin (who also wrote two episodes) and Jean-Marc Vallée. Lupita Nyong’o was initially cast as Cleo.