A very underrated series (spoilers)
Obviously, this was a passion project for Stephen King - to be able to write an adaptation of his most beloved novel. That was almost a “best intentions” misstep, since his screenplay does away with his trademark interior monologues (the book lengthily describes what each thought and gesture entails) and doubles down on the linguistic Stephen King-isms that don’t always translate naturally to spoken dialogue.
Luckily, this awkwardness is more than compensated for by the spectacular cast (Clive Owen is the standout), the absolutely stunning production values - especially the set design by Guy Hendrix Dyas and Darius Khondji‘s (‘Seven’, ‘Evita’, ‘Amour’) genius cinematography - and Pablo Larraín’s (‘Jackie’, ‘Neruda’) elegant direction.
It’s a shame this limited series doesn’t seem to have been watched by a large audience on Apple TV+ because everyone was losing their shit over a far tamer multi-dimensional love story, ‘Loki’, over on Disney Plus. But at least ‘Lisey’s Story’ exists for those who are interested in checking out something a little stranger.
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