Kate Winslet’s HBO miniseries has given the actress some of her best roles in recent years, but how do they rank alongside each other? After acclaimed performances in movies like Peter Jackson’s Heavenly Creatures, Kate Winslet became a movie star almost instantly thanks to the unprecedented success of Titanic. A glance at Kate Winslet’s best movie performances reveals she largely avoided big-budget roles or easy paydays, in favor of more challenging material like Holy Smoke, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind or The Reader.
Which isn’t to say Winslet hasn’t dipped her toes into more crowd-pleasing fare like The Holiday or Avatar: The Way of Water. Winslet’s filmography is no doubt the envy of her contemporaries for its wide mix of genres, characters and awards success. While Winslet is largely focused on movie work she has no issue with appearing in TV shows on occasion, be it voicing Mrs. Fillyjonk in Moominvalley or fronting political satire The Regime.
The Regime’s cast includes Winslet, Hugh Grant and Andrea Riseborough, with the show being created by Will Tracy (The Menu, Succession). So, on paper at least, the show should be incredible. Instead, The Regime is a lukewarm black comedy that is neither as funny nor insightful as it wants to be. Needless to say, Winslet is incredible, with her character Chancellor Elena Vernham being a vain, selfish monster who, against all odds, is still likable. The issue with The Regime is just how toothless it all feels.
The Regime is set in a fictional, unnamed nation, with Vernham being an amalgam of several real politicians but she is not directly based on one person. By design, the show keeps its distance from real-world political affairs or the bloody consequences of Vernham’s actions. Instead of leaving a space for audiences to draw their own conclusions, this has the unintended consequence of making it appear the showrunners didn’t want to commit to what the show was actually trying to say.
The miniseries still has a lot in its favor, from a quality cast to great production design. Even so, there is a hollow center to The Regime that is disappointing, considering the wealth of talent involved. The satire is both too dry and too vague to truly land, and in seemingly wanting to avoid courting controversy, it lacks any genuine insight or bite.
Major film stars appearing in television shows was once a career no-no, but the so-called Golden Age of Television changed all that. The best material for actors could often be found on series like The Sopranos or Breaking Bad, so in turn, it became possible to lure names like Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey to miniseries such as True Detective. HBO’s Mildred Pierce is another prime example of this trend, as this novel adaptation contains arguably Winslet’s most heartbreaking performance as the titular character.
Todd Haynes’ miniseries follows Mildred, a Depression-era housewife struggling to run a restaurant amid a messy home life. In addition to Winslet, Mildred Pierce’s cast is an embarrassment of riches, with Evan Rachel Wood playing Mildred’s troubled, borderline demonic daughter Veda while Guy Pearce and Melissa Leo play supporting roles. The series also recreates the look and feel of the classic Douglas Sirk melodramas of the 1950s, though Haynes pumps up the soapy tone considerably.
Mildred Pierce takes its time, allowing viewers to soak up the period detail and various crises the main character suffers through. Author Stephen King once praised the HBO series (via Newsweek) but stated it was “too damn long,” which is a complaint other reviews leveled at it. While a valid critique, Haynes’ adaptation works so well because it doesn’t rush or take shortcuts. Mildred Pierce is a messy, emotionally grueling ride, but also an intensely rewarding one that is fronted by two phenomenal performances by Winslet and Wood.
Winslet’s second HBO miniseries Mare of Easttown arrived a decade on from Mildred Pierce. It swapped the gothic soap opera of the latter for a modern-day crime drama, with Winslet playing a detective looking into a murder in a small town. Mare of Easttown bears some comparison to Mildred Pierce in that it can be quite bleak and dour, with Winslet’s Mare looking and feeling like she has the entire world weighing down on her. There is a case to be made that the miniseries contains Winslet’s best work, with Mare being one of her most complex, fascinating characters.
Like Winslet’s other HBO collaborations there’s a wealth of great supporting players, with Evan Peters playing Mare’s naive new partner, and Jean Smart, Guy Pearce and Cailee Spaeny filling out the ensemble. Inspite of how oppressive the story and setting can feel, Mare of Easttown is expertly paced, with the central investigation used as a way to explore the characters within the tight-knit community.
Mare of Easttown was showered with praise, being nominated for numerous awards (with Kate Winslet nabbing an Emmy and Golden Globe for her work), and it received a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes rating. There is occasional talk of a potential Mare of Easttown season 2, though the limited series itself is such a well-crafted piece of television, it’s perhaps best left alone.
Source: Newsweek, Rotten Tomatoes