| Long Bright River | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Crime drama |
| Created by | Nikki Toscano Liz Moore |
| Based on | Long Bright River by Liz Moore |
| Starring |
|
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producer | Jerry Kupfer |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | Peacock |
| Release | March 13, 2025 |
Long Bright River is an American crime drama miniseries based on the 2020 book of the same name by Liz Moore, starring Amanda Seyfried as a Philadelphia police officer. All episodes were released on Peacock on March 13, 2025. [1]
A patrol officer working in the struggling, high-crime neighborhood of Kensington, Philadelphia investigates the murders of three area women while seeking information about her own sister's disappearance. [2] [3]
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "These Girls" | Hagar Ben-Asher | Nikki Toscano & Liz Moore | March 13, 2025 |
| 2 | "Let Me In" | Gwyneth Horder-Payton | Nikki Toscano & Liz Moore | March 13, 2025 |
| 3 | "Mother Wolf" | Gwyneth Horder-Payton | Nikki Toscano & Liz Moore | March 13, 2025 |
| 4 | "Blind Spot" | Mona Fastvold | Russell Rothberg | March 13, 2025 |
| 5 | "Where Do You Go?" | Hagar Ben-Asher | Alexandra McNally | March 13, 2025 |
| 6 | "Hereditary" | Nikki Toscano | Nikki Toscano & Tricia V. Johnson | March 13, 2025 |
| 7 | "Wrong Devil, Wrong Deal" | Jessica Yu | Liz Moore & Alye Capone | March 13, 2025 |
| 8 | "Atonement" | Meera Menon | Nikki Toscano & Liz Moore | March 13, 2025 |
A television adaptation of the Liz Moore novel Long Bright River for Peacock was announced in January 2024 with Nikki Toscano as show runner with Amanda Seyfried in the lead role. The series is written by Moore and Toscano who are also executive producers. Production comes from Sony Pictures Television and UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group. Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty and Amanda Lewis will executive produce for Original Film and Amy Pascal will executive produce for Pascal Pictures. Hagar Ben-Asher is directing and executive producer on the opening episode. [4] In February 2024, Nicholas Pinnock was cast as Truman Dawes. [5] That same month, Ashleigh Cummings, Callum Vinson, and John Doman joined the cast. [6] In March 2024, Dash Mihok, Britne Oldford, Matthew Del Negro and Harriet Sansom Harris joined the cast in recurring roles. [7]
In preparation for the role, Amanda Seyfried took part in a ride-along with Philadelphia police officers in January 2024. [8] Filming took place in New York in March 2024. [9]
The series premiered on Peacock, Crave and USA Network Canada [10] with all eight episodes on March 13, 2025. [1] It was broadcast on the UK television channel Channel 4 from 17 May 2025. [11]
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Long Bright River has an approval rating of 73% based on 22 critics' reviews, with an average rating of 7.3 out of 10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Carried along by Amanda Seyfried's steely turn as a closed-off cop, Long Bright River takes a winding path with some unnecessary detours but ultimately arrives at a compelling destination." [12] Metacritic calculated a weighted average of 66 out of 100 based on 14 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. [13]
The series is set in Kensington, a Philadelphia neighborhood frequently associated with crime, prostitution and an open-air drug market. [14] In a review for NPR's Fresh Air , John Powers notes that the series "depicts the characters living in an area of Philly whose decline embodies a profound social collapse ... Propelled by its heroine's search for a killer, Long Bright River isn't just a mystery but a heartfelt story about wounded communities, wounded families and the wounded individuals who try to make things better." [3]