“Lisey’s Story” is a deeply personal thriller that follows Lisey Landon (Academy Award winner Julianne Moore) two years after the death of her husband, famous novelist Scott Landon (Academy Award nominee Clive Owen). A series of unsettling events causes Lisey to face memories of her marriage to Scott that she has deliberately blocked out of her mind.

The tone is set early with a beautiful score which showcases flashbacks of Lisey and Scott’s life. From here, we witness the death of Scott from a gunshot. We flash forward to the present day, where Lisey gasps from the daydream. Another flashback consumes you as you witness the brutality of this day on which Scott was shot. It was a massacre.

Although things start normal, we begin to see that things are a lot weirder than they seem. I never read the book, but I also understand that Stephen King is strange as hell, so I should have expected it. Typically, pilots struggle to balance giving too little or providing too much information for you to unpack, and this right up that alley. They have A LOT in this first episode and think it may have to take multiple viewings to grasp it fully.

One of the major highlights of the pilot is the beautiful score that is thrilling and daring. I will also say that the cinematography is downright gorgeous as well as you can see below.

The pilot does a remarkable job of reeling you in as you have a fantastic cast led by Julianne Moore and Clive Owen, but honestly, Ron Cephas Jones steals the show as professor Dashmiel. We have never seen him in a role like this before, and I was floored watching him throughout this first episode.

Although there is a lot to unpack within this first episode, I believe they did an excellent job of reeling us and wanting to move onto the second episode.

The Verdict: B