Unbelievable (miniseries) (original) (raw)

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2019 American crime drama television miniseries

This article is about the American miniseries. For the Japanese series of the same name, see Unbelievable (TV series).

Unbelievable
Genre	Crime drama
Created by	Susannah Grant Ayelet Waldman Michael Chabon
Based on	"An Unbelievable Story of Rape"by T. Christian Miller& Ken Armstrong "Anatomy of Doubt" (Ep 581)by This American Life
Starring	Toni Collette Merritt Wever Kaitlyn Dever
Composer	Will Bates
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of episodes	8
Production
Executive producers	Susannah Grant Sarah Timberman Carl Beverly Lisa Cholodenko Ayelet Waldman Michael Chabon Katie Couric Richard Tofel Neil Barsky Robyn Semien Marie Adler[1]
Producers	John Vohlers T. Christian Miller Ken Armstrong Kate DiMento Chris Leanza
Cinematography	Quyen Tran Xavier Grobet John Lindley
Editors	Jeffrey M. Werner Keith Henderson
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	43–58 minutes
Production companies	Katie Couric Media Escapist Fare Timberman/Beverly Productions Sage Lane Productions CBS Television Studios
Original release
Network	Netflix
Release	September 13, 2019 (2019-09-13)

Unbelievable is an American crime drama miniseries starring Toni Collette, Merritt Wever, and Kaitlyn Dever. It follows a woman who was charged with a crime for reporting that she was raped, and two female detectives who investigate a spate of similar attacks.[2] The show was co-created by Susannah Grant, Ayelet Waldman, and Michael Chabon. All three co-creators and Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly, and Katie Couric were executive producers. It was released on September 13, 2019, on Netflix.[3][4]

The miniseries is based on the 2015 news article "An Unbelievable Story of Rape", written by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong about the Washington and Colorado serial rape cases. It also draws from their 2018 book A False Report, based on the same research. The series received critical acclaim and numerous accolades, including a Peabody Award and Best Limited Series nominations at the Critics' Choice, Golden Globes and Primetime Emmys. All three lead actresses were nominated at the Critics' Choice (Collette winning) and Golden Globe Awards. Collette also received nominations for the Primetime Emmy and SAG Award.

Based on the 2008–2011 Washington and Colorado serial rape cases, Unbelievable follows Marie—a woman who was charged with a crime for reporting that she was raped—and two detectives trying to identify a serial rapist.[5] The program draws from "An Unbelievable Story of Rape" (2015), a Pulitzer Prize–winning article by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong for ProPublica and The Marshall Project. It also draws from the related book A False Report (2018), by the same authors.[2]

Cast and characters

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• Toni Collette as Det. Grace Rasmussen, a Westminster Police Department detective in Westminster, Colorado;[6] inspired by Edna Hendershot.[7]
• Merritt Wever as Det. Karen Duvall, a Golden Police Department detective in Golden, Colorado;[6] inspired by Stacy Galbraith.[7]
• Kaitlyn Dever as Marie Adler, a survivor of sexual assault.[6]
• Eric Lange as Det. Parker, a Lynnwood Police Department detective in Lynnwood, Washington who is assigned to Marie's case; inspired by Sergeant Jeffrey Mason[7]
• Bill Fagerbakke as Det. Pruitt, a Lynnwood Police Department detective also assigned to Marie's case; inspired by Jerry Rittgarn[7]
• Elizabeth Marvel as Judith, Marie's most recent foster mother
• Bridget Everett as Colleen Doggett, one of Marie's former foster mothers
• Danielle Macdonald as Amber, a victim of sexual assault
• Dale Dickey as RoseMarie, a veteran detective at the Westminster Police Department
• Liza Lapira as Mia, a police surveillance expert
• Omar Maskati as Elias, RoseMarie's data analyst intern at the Westminster Police Department
• Austin Hébert as Max Duvall, Karen's husband who is a police officer at the Westminster Police Department
• Kai Lennox as Steve Rasmussen, Grace's husband who is an investigator with the Attorney General's office in Westminster, Colorado
• Blake Ellis as Chris McCarthy, the serial rapist behind the attacks; inspired by Marc Patrick O'Leary[7]
• Aaron Staton as Curtis McCarthy, Chris's brother and a suspect; inspired by Michael O'Leary[7]
• Patricia Fa'asua as Becca, a counselor at the Oakdale Apartments for at-risk youth
• Charlie McDermott as Ty, a counselor at the Oakdale Apartments for at-risk youth
• Brent Sexton as Al, Colleen's husband and Marie's former foster father
• Annaleigh Ashford as Lilly, a victim of sexual assault
• Scott Lawrence as Billy Taggart, an FBI special agent
• Shane Paul McGhie as Connor, Marie's ex-boyfriend
• Hendrix Yancey as Daisy, Duvall's daughter
• Nick Searcy as Detective Harkness
• Brooke Smith as Dara Kaplan, Marie's therapist
• John Billingsley as Judge Brent Gordon
• Vanessa Bell Calloway as Sarah, a victim of sexual assault
• Tom Amandes as Bruce Bronstein, Marie's lawyer

On January 22, 2018, Netflix ordered Unbelievable from Timberman/Beverly Productions and CBS Television Studios with executive producers including Susannah Grant, Michael Chabon, Ayelet Waldman, Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly, and Katie Couric. The eight episode miniseries is based on an article by ProPublica and The Marshall Project, "An Unbelievable Story of Rape" written by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong about a case in Lynnwood, Washington.[8] There was also a concurrently-published This American Life radio episode about the same case, "Anatomy of Doubt".[9] Grant served as showrunner and also wrote for the series along with Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman.[10][11][12]

On June 25, 2018, it was announced that Toni Collette, Merritt Wever, and Kaitlyn Dever had been cast in the series' main roles.[13][14] On July 26, 2018, it was reported that Danielle Macdonald had joined the main cast.[15] In August 2018, it was announced that Kai Lennox, Austin Hébert, Dale Dickey, Omar Maskati, Elizabeth Marvel, Liza Lapira, and Eric Lange had been cast in recurring roles.[16][17][18] On September 26, 2018, it was reported that Vanessa Bell Calloway had joined the cast in a recurring capacity.[19]

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 98% based on 84 reviews, with an average rating of 8.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Heartbreaking and powerful, Unbelievable transcends familiar true-crime beats by shifting its gaze to survivors of abuse, telling their stories with grace and gravity."[20] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 83 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[21]

Audience viewership

[edit]

On October 17, 2019, Netflix announced that the miniseries had been viewed by over 32 million viewers after its release on their platform.[22]

1. ^ Dibdin, Emma (September 30, 2019). "Unbelievable Showrunner Susannah Grant Breaks Down the Choices That Made the Show So Powerful". Harper's Bazaar. Archived from the original on December 27, 2019. Retrieved October 13, 2019. Adler is credited as "Marie" in the credits.
2. ^ a b Armstrong, Ken; Miller, T. Christian (September 5, 2019). "Netflix Series Based on Our Work Explores Costs of Not Believing Rape Victims". ProPublica. Archived from the original on October 13, 2019. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
3. ^ Cohen, Anne (July 18, 2019). "Netflix's Unbelievable Goes Behind-The-Scenes Of A Real-Life Rape Case". Refinery29. Archived from the original on December 8, 2019. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
4. ^ Colburn, Randall (July 18, 2019). "Netflix unveils trailer for Unbelievable, a limited series based on Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on January 3, 2020. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
5. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (January 22, 2018). "Netflix Orders 'Unbelievable' Limited Series From Susannah Grant, Timberman/Beverly, Katie Couric & CBS Studios". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
6. ^ a b c Zilko, Christian (July 18, 2019). "'Unbelievable' Trailer: Sexual Assault Victim Fights to Be Heard in Toni Colette-Starring Netflix Drama". IndieWire. Archived from the original on July 20, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
7. ^ a b c d e f Liebman, Lisa (September 23, 2019). "The True Stories Behind Unbelievable". Vulture. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
8. ^ Bryan, Zachariah; Thompson, Evan (September 10, 2019). "'Unbelievable' story of Lynnwood teen's rape retold on Netflix". The Everett Herald. Archived from the original on September 13, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
9. ^ Miller, T. Christian; Armstrong, Ken (December 16, 2015). "An Unbelievable Story of Rape". ProPublica. Archived from the original on July 18, 2019. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
10. ^ Franklin, Garth (January 22, 2018). "Netflix Orders "Unbelievable" To Series - Dark Horizons". Dark Horizons. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
11. ^ Busch, Jenna (January 22, 2018). "Unbelievable: Netflix Orders Series from Erin Brockovich Writer". ComingSoon.net. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
12. ^ Ge, Linda (January 23, 2018). "Netflix Orders "Unbelievable" Sexual Assault Miniseries". The Tracking Board. Archived from the original on January 23, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
13. ^ Petski, Denise (June 25, 2018). "'Unbelievable': Toni Collette, Merritt Wever & Kaitlyn Dever To Star In Netflix Limited Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 25, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
14. ^ Otterson, Joe (June 25, 2018). "Toni Collette Among Three Cast in Netflix Rape Drama 'Unbelievable,' Lisa Cholodenko to Direct". Variety. Archived from the original on July 3, 2018. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
15. ^ Petski, Denise (July 26, 2018). "'Unbelievable': Danielle Macdonald Joins Netflix Limited Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
16. ^ Petski, Denise (August 9, 2018). "'Unbelievable': Kai Lennox, Dale Dickey, Austin Hébert & Omar Maskati To Recur On Netflix Drama Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 9, 2018. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
17. ^ Petski, Denise (August 14, 2018). "'Unbelievable': Elizabeth Marvel & Liza Lapira To Recur In Netflix Drama Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 15, 2018. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
18. ^ Petski, Denise (August 27, 2018). "Eric Lange Joins Amazon's 'The Man In The High Castle' & Netflix's 'Unbelievable' As Recurring". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
19. ^ Petski, Denise (September 26, 2018). "'Unbelievable': Vanessa Bell Calloway To Recur On Netflix Drama Series". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on September 26, 2018. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
20. ^ "Unbelievable: Season 1 (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
21. ^ "Unbelievable". Metacritic. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
22. ^ Koblin, John (October 17, 2019). "Netflix's Top 10 Original Movies and TV Shows, According to Netflix". New York Times. Archived from the original on October 21, 2019. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
23. ^ "BAFTA TV 2020: Nominations for the Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards and British Academy TV Craft Awards". BAFTA. Archived from the original on June 4, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
24. ^ "Critics' Choice Awards 2020: Fleabag, Watchmen, When They See Us, Unbelievable Among TV Nominees". TVLine. December 8, 2019. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
25. ^ "Golden Globes: Full List of Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. December 9, 2019. Archived from the original on December 10, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
26. ^ Schneider, Michael (June 10, 2020). "'Stranger Things,' 'When They See Us,' 'Watchmen' Among This Year's Peabody Award Winners". Variety. Archived from the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
27. ^ "Emmys 2020: List of Nominations". Variety. July 28, 2020. Archived from the original on July 28, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
28. ^ "Nominations Announced in Motion Pictures and Television Programs Categories – 2020 Awards". Producers Guild of America. January 7, 2020. Archived from the original on January 13, 2020. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
29. ^ Peterson, Karen M. (December 3, 2019). "24th Satellite Awards Announce Nominations, 'Ford v Ferrari' Leads the Way". Awards Circuit. Archived from the original on December 9, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
30. ^ "NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED FOR THE 26TH ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS". December 11, 2019. Archived from the original on December 12, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
31. ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb (July 9, 2020). "TCA Awards: Watchmen, Unbelievable and Schitt's Creek Lead Nominations". TVLine. Archived from the original on July 10, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
32. ^ McNary, Dave (December 5, 2019). "Writers Guild Unveils 2020 TV Award Nominees". Variety. Archived from the original on December 5, 2019. Retrieved December 5, 2019.