Ranking Every HBO Miniseries From Worst To Best
15. Mildred Pierce
A tremendously thoughtful and star studded piece, this adaptation of James M Cain’s novel is about as literary as TV gets. This ‘30s set piece is directed by Todd Haynes, who has previous with this kind of period filmmaking with a woman on the edge as its focus, having directed Safe and Far From Heaven to great effect.
The star turn is Kate Winslet as the eponymous character. Her ability to pick great roles is really second to none, and she’s onto a winner here as a struggling but indefatigable mother looking to keep her daughter fed even in the face of hostility (her daughter, played skillfully by Evan Rachel Wood, is one of the most (purposefully) frustratingly unpleasant characters you’ll ever see on TV).
With her husband out of the picture, Mildred tries to keep things together by opening her own restaurant, and the five parter sees her juggle dutiful motherhood with the desire to live a life of her own.
It’s stirring stuff with a hardboiled, noirish edge taken directly from Cain’s pageturner, with great supporting work from Melissa Leo and Guy Pearce.