Mildred Pierce (miniseries)

Reception

Critics generally received the miniseries Mildred Pierce well. On Rotten Tomatoes, 81% of 58 critics gave it a positive review, resulting in an average score of 8.3 out of 10. The site’s consensus noted that while the adaptation is almost too faithful to its source material, it makes up for that familiarity with high production values and a standout lead performance. Metacritic assigned a weighted score of 69 out of 100 based on 28 reviews, which falls into the “generally favorable” category.

Critic Jonathan Rosenbaum, speaking on a WBEZ podcast about the best films of 2011, argued that the series matched the year’s top theatrical movies and called it director Todd Haynes’ finest work. Salon.com described it as a “quiet, heartbreaking masterpiece.” In The New York Times, Alessandra Stanley observed that the miniseries was “loyally, unwaveringly true” to James M. Cain’s 1941 novel but failed to fully exploit the “mythic clash of mother, lover and ungrateful child,” making it “not nearly as satisfying as the 1945 film noir.”

Stephen King, writing for The Daily Beast and Newsweek, praised the performances of Kate Winslet, Guy Pearce, and Evan Rachel Wood, as well as the show’s detail and structure, but complained that the five-hour runtime was “too damn long.” He concluded that Winslet’s Mildred was “a genuine star turn” and added, “How Joan Crawford would have loathed her.” The series was screened out of competition at the 68th Venice International Film Festival in 2011.