# The Cry (2018)

> A baby vanishes from a small Australian coastal town, and a young couple's marriage unravels under police, media and private guilt.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/70613

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 4
- Episode runtime: 57 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, mystery, thriller
- Network: BBC One, ABC TV
- Cast: Jenna Coleman, Ewen Leslie, Asher Keddie, Markella Kavenagh, Stella Gonet, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Shareena Clanton, Alex Dimitriades
- TMDB rating: 7.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5473364/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: mild
- Tone: bleak, tense, intimate, melancholic, claustrophobic

## What critics say

Audiences rate the single season positively, praising its gripping, emotionally raw handling of a missing-child case and the lead performances.

## Synopsis

The Cry (2018) is an Australian and British co-production miniseries created for BBC One and ABC TV, told across four hour-long episodes. Jenna Coleman plays Joanna, a young mother whose baby disappears from a quiet coastal town, while Ewen Leslie plays her husband Alistair, whose composure and loyalties start to crack. Asher Keddie plays Alexandra, a figure whose presence deepens the strain, and Shareena Clanton plays Detective Lorna Jones, a police investigator working through the case. The engine of the show is the search itself, but the investigation is only half the story: each episode alternates between the public glare of police interviews, media attention and local gossip and the private rooms where the couple's arguments, memories and resentments play out. The pressure builds in small domestic moments rather than set-piece action. The tone is bleak, tense and emotionally raw, with a sustained sense of dread and moral unease. Its themes of maternal guilt, a disintegrating marriage and the cost of being watched place it in the company of Broadchurch and Big Little Lies, with fans of The Slap also finding the same intimate, judgmental atmosphere. Viewers who like slow burn domestic mysteries will find it absorbing, a compact, character-driven story that explores grief and blame rather than offering easy answers.

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