Top of the Lake

A woman haunted by her past, Detective Robin Griffin, investigates complex and unsettling cases.

Top of the Lake (2013-2017) is a New Zealand-set crime mystery miniseries created by Jane Campion and Gerard Lee for SundanceTV and BBC Two, a prestige crime drama with an unsettling, slow-burning register. Elisabeth Moss stars as Detective Robin Griffin, a woman haunted by her own past who takes on complex and unsettling cases in a remote lakeside community. David Wenham plays fellow detective Al Parker, and Peter Mullan plays Matt Mitcham, a patriarch whose family sits at the center of the mystery. Across two seasons of thirteen episodes in total, the engine of the series is a stubborn investigation into a missing child that runs into a town determined to protect its own secrets. Season two shifts the setting and the crime to Sydney, Australia, where a suspected murder ties back to sex trafficking. Holly Hunter and Lucy Lawless round out the principal cast. The tone is bleak, atmospheric and morally murky, with misty landscapes and a tense, deliberate pace that rewards patient viewers. Fans of Broadchurch, The Killing and True Detective will find resonance in its brooding small-community dread and its wounded, determined female lead.

Critics acclaim the atmospheric direction, Elisabeth Moss's lead performance and the unsettling, morally fraught crime investigations, though some viewers find the pacing slow.

• Broadchurchslow burn rural crime mystery, bleak small community secrets, female detective at center
• The Killingbrooding procedural with troubled female lead and dark social underbelly
• Wind Riverremote community mystery with atmospheric landscape and disturbing abuse themes
• True Detectiveprestige crime drama with layered mystery and morally compromised investigators

Created by

Jane Campion, Gerard Lee

Release Date

2013-03-18

Episode runtime

49 min

Rating

7.4 / 10 (424)

What is Top of the Lake about?

A haunted detective returns to a remote New Zealand lake town to untangle a child abuse case that the community would rather keep buried.

What is Top of the Lake like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Top of the Lake as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.

Is Top of the Lake violent?

Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Top of the Lake as moderate.

What did critics think of Top of the Lake?

Critics acclaim the atmospheric direction, Elisabeth Moss's lead performance and the unsettling, morally fraught crime investigations, though some viewers find the pacing slow.

Which shows are like Top of the Lake?

Shows with a similar feel include Broadchurch, The Killing, Wind River, and True Detective.

How long is Top of the Lake?

Top of the Lake: 2 seasons, 13 episodes.

Is Top of the Lake still running?

No, Top of the Lake has ended.

Where can I watch Top of the Lake?

In United States, Top of the Lake streams on Hulu.