Mildred Pierce: Trailer, certificate and where to watch
Kate Winslet is terrific as a divorced single mother trying to please her daughter
Year: 2011
Certificate: 15
This beautifully played, five-part HBO adaptation of James M. Cain's novel is a TV masterpiece. Kate Winslet is superb as the mother of two finding her way in 1930s California after her husband leaves her, and Guy Pearce joins the story in part two as an aristocrat who seems to offer Mildred all the status she craves to secure the love of her vile daughter Veda. If only it were that simple.
Pearce's performance is layered with hints of dark turns ahead, and these are all the more powerful for emerging more slowly than they do in the 1945 Joan Crawford film, which you can rent on Amazon and elsewhere. Look out for a pre-Westworld Evan Rachel Wood as the older Veda, a raging narcissist who Mildred just wants to please, but can't. And that's the real tragedy at the heart of this story. (Five episodes)
