--- title: Lisey's Story Is Mawkish, Dull and Too Long by Half description: Stephen King adapted his own psychological thriller for this star-studded Apple TV+ series. It didn't help. canonical: https://time.com/6051974/liseys-story-review-apple/ author: Judy Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2021-06-04T11:00:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T09:59:15.540Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'Lisey's Story' Is Mawkish, Dull and Too Long by Half og:description: Stephen King adapted his own psychological thriller for this star-studded Apple TV+ series. It didn't help. og:url: https://time.com/6051974/liseys-story-review-apple/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b22baf3d5788206/698a19bf86f68ebb026effe1/liseysstory.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: liseysstory og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Lisey's Story' Is Mawkish, Dull and Too Long by Half twitter:description: Stephen King adapted his own psychological thriller for this star-studded Apple TV+ series. It didn't help. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b22baf3d5788206/698a19bf86f68ebb026effe1/liseysstory.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Stephen King Adaptation _Lisey's Story_ Is Mawkish, Dull and Too Long by Half > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with Ally. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Judy Berman](https://time.com/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman TV Critic Jun 4, 2021 11:00 AM UTC  Julianne Moore in “Lisey’s Story,” premiering June 4. Julianne Moore in “Lisey’s Story,” premiering June 4.Apple TV  by [Judy Berman](https://time.com/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman TV Critic Jun 4, 2021 11:00 AM UTC Apple TV+ has built a decent case, since launching in November 2019, for its existence. What’s surprising is that it’s done so not with the splashy, spendy dramas it keeps rolling out, from [_The Morning Show_](https://time.com/5711100/morning-show-review-apple-tv-plus/) to [_The Mosquito Coast_](https://time.com/5959298/the-mosquito-coast-review/), but on comedies: _Ted Lasso_, _Dickinson_, _Mythic Quest_, [_Central Park_](https://time.com/5838264/central-park-apple-tv-plus-review/). Sadly, _Lisey’s Story_, which arrives on June 4, marks another high-profile miss for the platform. The list of talent involved rivals that of all-star TV projects like _Big Little Lies_. [Stephen King](https://time.com/5720751/stephen-king-doctor-sleep-interview/) adapted his own acclaimed novel into this psychological thriller, directed by Pablo Larraín ([_Jackie_](https://time.com/4587692/jackie-first-lady-review/)) and executive-produced by [J.J. Abrams](https://time.com/magazine/us/4134359/december-14th-2015-vol-186-no-24-u-s/), which casts [Julianne Moore](https://time.com/collection-post/3822884/julianne-moore-2015-time-100/) as the eponymous widow of Scott Landon (Clive Owen), a famous author. Two years after her husband’s death, Lisey remains unmoored, living in a posh farmhouse cluttered with boxes of his detritus and taking soulful dips in the property’s strange, pond-like pool. Then a breakup leaves her delicate sister Amanda (Joan Allen) catatonic and institutionalized, further stressing Lisey’s tense relationship with the bitter third sister, Darla (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Meanwhile, a professor (Ron Cephas Jones) who’s been bugging Lisey to give him Scott’s papers unwittingly sics one of the author’s unhinged fans on her. Jim Dooley (Dane DeHaan) is your typical quirky horror psycho: a violent, woman-hating man-child who always seems to be chomping on junk food. But he’s not the only monster in Lisey’s life. Equally fearsome are her memories of conversations with her husband that she willfully repressed—vivid accounts of the bleak childhood that led him to a career fleshing out fantasy worlds—and will have to unearth from her consciousness in order to protect herself. Moore and Owen (who appears in frequent, confusing flashbacks) could play their respective roles, a haunted widow and a tortured genius, from beyond the grave. Scenery both real and imaginary has a dark, eerie, natural beauty (although it must be said that the fantasy landscapes could all double as [’70s prog-rock album covers](https://www.theguardian.com/music/gallery/2015/oct/21/roger-dean-somewhere-near-here-prog-rock-album-covers-in-pictures)). But the many extended, atmospheric stretches that rely on these visuals and performances get tedious fast. The show is too long; it wrings eight molasses-paced episodes out of a story that provides sufficient narrative for four at most. And technical competence can’t save a skeletal plot held together by pseudo-psychology or a script pocked with bad lines. “Stop pushing me, Scott,” Lisey pleads, hilariously, at one point. “You’re dead, so stop.” It doesn’t help that the only humor in the show appears to be accidental. While King’s narrative romanticizes the relationship between mental illness and creativity, Larraín’s histrionic direction often reduces these elements to camp. In one scene, a raving Amanda squeezes a pink teacup until it shatters, the shards bloodying her hands. Not even an actor of Allen’s caliber can elevate material this maudlin. Most frustrating of all is the show’s saintly cipher of a hero. Lisey exists solely as a relic of Scott, a mirror of his love. The suffering she endures on his behalf, which predates his death by decades, is depicted with sadistic glee. If this is commentary on the misogyny directed at the self-sacrificing wives of men revered as great artists, it might’ve helped to give the character a discernible personality. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6051974/liseys-story-review-apple/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6051974/liseys-story-review-apple/"},"headline":"Stephen King Adaptation Lisey's Story Is Mawkish, Dull and Too Long by Half","datePublished":"2021-06-04T11:00:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T09:59:15.540Z","description":"Technical competence can't save a skeletal plot held together by pseudo-psychology or a script pocked with bad lines","url":"https://time.com/6051974/liseys-story-review-apple/","keywords":["Television","review","photography"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b22baf3d5788206/698a19bf86f68ebb026effe1/liseysstory.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Judy Berman","jobTitle":"TV Critic","url":"https://time.com/author/judy-berman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7b22baf3d5788206/698a19bf86f68ebb026effe1/liseysstory.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"liseysstory","caption":"Julianne Moore in “Lisey’s Story.”","creditText":"Apple TV","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/television/","name":"Television"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6051974/liseys-story-review-apple/","name":"Stephen King Adaptation Lisey's Story Is Mawkish, Dull and Too Long by Half"}}]}] ```