Here's Your First Look at Natalie Portman in Apple TV+'s Lady in the Lake

TV journalists have descended upon Pasadena this week, along with a torrential downpour, for the 2024 Television Critics Association winter press tour. Our early appraisal of this year’s upcoming series begins with a look at Apple TV+’s slate, which, though not quite as packed as it might have been if the writers’ and actors’ strikes of 2023 hadn’t happened, is nonetheless replete with high-profile names and productions.

Along with the returns of Loot and Acapulco, Apple TV+ will release new shows from David E. Kelley, Eva Longoria, and Laura Dern, as well as Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, who have reteamed for a documentary on the New England Patriots. Before The Penguin debuts, Colin Farrell spends some time on the right side of the law as an investigator in Sugar. This June, Jake Gyllenhaal leads another ’80s reboot, this time one that starred Harrison Ford. But this sizzle reel whets the appetite most for Lady in the Lake, a crime noir starring Natalie Portman, whose MountainA production company is also behind May December, the Todd Haynes movie that turned ripped-from-the-headlines storytelling on its head.

Lady in the Lake is based on the novel of the same name by Laura Lippman, who was inspired by the unrelated deaths of a young Jewish girl and a thirtysomething Black woman in 1969. The Queen’s Gambit breakout Moses Ingram co-stars as Cleo Sherwood, a Baltimore woman who meets a tragic end. Portman once again finds herself digging beneath the surface: She plays Maddie Schwartz, who leaves her unhappy marriage to become a reporter and stumbles upon deep-seated racism and misogyny in Baltimore. Honey Boy director Alma Har’el helms and writes the limited series.

The preview gives away very little, aside from a glimpse of Portman looking like she was caught in the middle of a break on the set of Jackie, as well as an overhead shot of her surrounded by a bunch of photos, like all true detectives do.

While we don’t yet know when Lady in the Lake will hit Apple TV+, we do have a slew of premiere dates. We’ll update this post with trailers and images as embargoes lift.

Apple TV+ 2024 premieres

The New Look, February 14
The Dynasty: New England Patriots, February 16
Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin, February 16
Constellation, February 21
Messi’s World Cup: The Rise of a Legend, February 21
The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin, March 1
The Reluctant Traveler Season 2, March 8
Manhunt, March 15
Palm Royale, March 20
Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock Season 2, March 29
Loot Season 2, April 3
Sugar, April 5
Franklin, April 12
The Big Door Prize Season 2, April 24
Acapulco Season 3, May 1
Dark Matter, May 8
Trying Season 4, May 22
Presumed Innocent, June 14
Land of Women, Summer 2024

Danette Chavez is the Editor-in-Chief of Primetimer and its biggest fan of puns.