Natalie Portman and Moses Ingram Head to the ’60s in First ‘Lady in the Lake’ Image

Lady in the Lake, the latest prestige drama from Apple TV+, is set to premiere on July 19 with a two-episode premiere and the streamer has released the first look at the seven-part limited series created and directed by Alma Har’el, and starring Academy Award and Golden Globe Award-winner Natalie Portman, who also serves as executive producer, and Emmy-nominated Moses Ingram. The series will make its worldwide debut in July and new episodes will follow every Friday through August 23.

In 1966, the city of Baltimore is shaken by the disappearance of a young girl on Thanksgiving, setting the stage for a deadly convergence of two women’s lives. Maddie Schwartz (Portman), a Jewish housewife eager to escape a hidden past and reinvent herself as an investigative journalist, and Cleo Sherwood (Ingram), a mother wrestling with the political intricacies of Black Baltimore while trying to support her family, lead seemingly parallel lives. Initially, their paths do not cross, but as Maddie becomes obsessed with the enigmatic death of Cleo, a rift forms, endangering everyone involved. Directed under the vision of Alma Har’el, Lady in the Lake unfolds as a fervent noir thriller and a profound exploration of the sacrifices women make for their ambitions. Alongside Portman and Ingram, the series also stars Y’Lan Noel, Mikey Madison, Brett Gelman, Noah Jupe, and Mike Epps.

What is ‘Lady in the Lake’ Based On?

Based on a book by Laura Lippman, Lady in the Lake’s official synopsis reads:

In 1966, Baltimore is a city of secrets that everyone seems to know—everyone, that is, except Madeline “Maddie” Schwartz. Last year, she was a happy, even pampered housewife. This year, she’s bolted from her marriage of almost twenty years, determined to make good on her youthful ambitions to live a passionate, meaningful life.

Maddie wants to matter, to leave her mark on a swiftly changing world. Drawing on her own secrets, she helps Baltimore police find a murdered girl—assistance that leads to a job at the city’s afternoon newspaper, the Star. Working at the newspaper offers Maddie the opportunity to make her name, and she has found just the story to do it: a missing black woman whose body was discovered in the fountain of a city park lake.

Cleo Sherwood was a young black woman who liked to have a good time. No one seems to know or care why she was killed except Maddie—and the dead woman herself. Maddie sets out to find the truth about Cleo’s life and death, but Cleo’s ghost, privy to Maddie’s poking and prying, wants to be left alone.

Maddie’s investigation brings her into contact with people who used to be on the periphery of her life—a jewelry store clerk, a waitress, a rising star on the Baltimore Orioles, a patrol cop, a hardened female reporter, a lonely man in a movie theater. But for all her ambition and drive, Maddie may fail to see the people right in front of her. Her inability to look beyond her own needs could lead to tragedy and turmoil for all sorts of people—including the man who shares her bed, a black police officer who cares for Maddie more than she knows.

Lady in the Lake is set to premiere on July 19 on Apple TV+.