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Some of the posted reviews are absolutely mind boggling in their lack of empathy and compassion. Apparently, the homelessness, drug addiction and prostitution in this area of Philadelphia (called Kensington) marks the people (especially its female members) as losers who are not worth consideration. And by caring about the fate of the women, in general, and worrying over her sister, in particular, the series' lead character Mickey, a patrol cop played by Amanda Seyfried, is branded as some sort of gullible sucker. I found the character of her sister, Kacey, as portrayed by Ashleigh Cummings, as the most realistic and fascinating in the show. It made me want to read Liz Moore's book, and I rate the series as an 8 out of 10 stars.

I don't get all the negative reviews. I thought this show was very good. Every episode left me wanting to watch another therefore I ended up binging the whole thing in one sitting. By no means is it produced to perfection but the story itself had me feeling all types of emotions. I also didn't think it was predictable, like many others have said l. Definitely had me guessing and on the edge of my seat at times. Check it out yourself and form your own opinion. I also liked On Call who has Spencer from pretty little liars playing a cop. Actors like to step out of the box and not be pigeonholed into playing the same character all the time. It's TV it doesn't need to be so realistic. It's for entertainment purposes. If you want such a realistic crime/thriller, just turn on the news.

This show follows a Philadelphia Police Officer who struggles with her co workers believing that the deaths of multiple homeless females are not murders disguised as drug overdoses. The acting is superb and the story line is tense. Along the way there are many twists and turns that I personally did not see coming. This show is gritty and nothing is sugar coated and well worth the time to watch it. The show highlights probably the worst areas of Philadelphia where drugs are rampant but it is a thoroughly riveting and enjoyable journey to watch this show. I would recommend it to those that enjoy genuine hard core police dramas that also highlight personal journeys of individuals.

Amanda Seyfried is one of the most underrated actresses ever This is a compelling mini series with a plot twist every ten minutes. Being from the Philly area I really enjoyed all the local references, and the producers ( Seyfried among them) really nailed the " it's a Philly thing " vibe!

The plot is basically a story of a Philly cops desperate search for her missing sister. But the real story, is a look into the hardscrapple world of lower middle class America, and their daily struggles to just get through to the next day. And it's wonderful My big knock on this series is this, however Will somebody please pay the electric bill !!!

It's sometimes appeared as though every scene- even the outdoor scenes were filmed in obnoxiously dim lighting Director took this " film noire" thing wayyyyy Too far.

Solid show highlighting the many devastations and complexities of addiction. Good cast with better than average acting - Amanda Seyfried was a real bright spot lead. It could have been a great show if it was tightened up to only 5 or 6 (max) episodes. What began as a tight, engrossing story that adeptly wove multiple storylines devolved into a superficial whodunnit melodrama that was, IMO, wholly unnecessary (and detracted from the depth of the first episodes). It feels like they changed editors after episode 3. It's a bummer as it had real potential to be great.

I don't understand why Hollywood believes there needs to be 8 episodes for every show. How about make as many episodes as the story requires- case in point is Adolescence, they made the number of episodes needed to tell that story and it is more powerful because of the restraint.

I'll start by saying that no, I didnt the read book and overall I did like this series. It was just too long and the story does drag on. The acting is great, and sadly this feels alittle too real. Alot of flawed characters either hooked on drugs or doing a job that they are ill suited to do. The story is depressing but also not the average hollywood story or reboot. Amanda Seyfried's character can be annoying and naive at times but watching her life unfold as the older sister of an addict was sad on many levels. And unlike the same crime series on TV it's nice to watch a story that I could imagine really happened. I just wish they made this one happen in 1 or 2 less episodes.

I never really considered her that serious an actor, but she is jaw-droppingly good in this. Like Kate Winslet in Mare of Easttown level-or better. I would be shocked if Seyfried doesn't take home best actress at the Emmy's. Her performance is so fluid, so natural, so understated yet full of depth. I'm like floored how good she is. (Other actors/casting also great. Maybe that means the directing is great too? I do like the choices of how scenes and episodes end-a little unconventional but with a poignant beauty. So let's give it up for the director & maybe editor too!). Bravo all around. See it!

Long Bright River starts out as an unflinching look at the seamy side of Philadelphia - all muddy waste ground, dank corners and unhidden prostitution.

But it turns into a family saga, with lead role Mickey's background recounted in flashbacks. Not only is she a concert-grade musician, but she's also a Mother Theresa in a police uniform. Fairly quickly we realise that she is too good to be true, but we need to keep believing in Mickey in order to keep watching.

Thomas, the extraordinarily precocious 9 year old, offers mum advice straight out of a psychology book, mixed with that homely cuteness that Americans seem to be suckers for. There are more corny sweet comments from the neighbour who, it turns out, had been Mother Theresa in a previous life.

Emotional manipulation eventually sinks the whole enterprise.

For a Peacock endeavor that mirrors NBC mainstream template, this show stays within those lines and is good, critically good. Some predictable items. But I could not stop watching. Well done. Amanda is an awesome actress btw. Realistic characters.

Edgy, great plot, dark but realistic. Reminded me *at times* maybe a bit True Detective, Shades of Blue, the Philly outside stuff made me homesick for Boston.

I know this is in a past date-frame, but hate how this reflects certain aspects of law enforcement and actual life.

I tried to give accolades but intentionally wrote so I did not give spoilers.

Impressed.

My rating is 5 stars for two reasons. First, it is so dark...what is the fascination with filming scenes in lighting so dark the viewer sees nothing? This technique is not something to be applauded. It is not "artistic" nor creative. Stop already! Make a podcast if all the audience can do is listen and not see! Second, the story could have been effectively told in half the episodes. It felt as if the studio slotting 8 episodes drove the content rather than the story line. A final aside - the casting for younger versions of characters was awful. By no stretch of the imagination would these actors grow up into the adult versions. I always find poor casting distracting.

I was absolutely glued to this show. Binged it in one day! The plot is great, the story is slow enough that it's easy to follow through all of the flashbacks, sub plots, and other twists. Amanda does a fantastic job, and the child actor is actually very talented himself.

I've seen that this is based off of a book, and I have every intention of finding and reading it!

I really enjoyed that there wasn't an overload of cheesy score music, and that the dialogue was actually believable. I also appreciate that they weren't afraid to include how untrustworthy the police have become.

Will be recommending this to my friends!

I don't think Long Bright River is a bad show by any means. I watched the first two episodes and gave them both a just-above-average 6/10 star rating. But in an era of incredible TV content, it simply wasn't compelling enough for me to continue.

The basic setup of Long Bright River centers on Mickey (Amanda Seyfried), a Philadelphia cop on the beat of the city's seedier areas. As a Philly native, there is immediate conflict in arresting those she grew up with and may even know personally. Drama with a current beat partner (Dash Mihok) & a former one (Nicholas Pinnock) set up the main narrative.

In just two episodes, I immediately identified how slow Long Bright River would be. Drawn-out might be an even less-friendly adjective. In a problem I've had with a few Peacock series now, this seems like a very padded 8 episodes when just a couple may have sufficed.

There is also a focus on the day-to-day life of Mickey and her son (Callum Vinson) that seems rather mundane. I really wanted the show runners to delve deeper into the "I grew up with these women working the streets" angle--and maybe that does happen eventually. But aside from a personal revelation (and even that I found somewhat underwhelming) from Mickey, the major underlying themes seemed secondary to the "beat cops" of it all.

A few highlights: Seyfried is a solid enough actor to play a pretty good cop here (even if saddled with some really slow material). I like how the series is filmed in the Kensington & Camden areas of Philly it is set in. As previously mentioned, the idea of one choice (or lucky break) separating Mickey from her perpetrators is intriguing.

Alas, Long Bright River simply wasn't compelling enough for me to want to continue.

I haven't read the novel, so I went into the show with no knowledge of the story, and I won't be able to compare the two. I am currently on episode seven, and though the storyline is decent, I think if the casting choices had been weaker, it would have lost my interest. Luckily, that wasn't the case. Amanda Seyfried's beautiful performance elevates what I otherwise might have deemed Mare of Easttown's less impressive sibling. Her attention to nuances and line deliveries makes what could easily be an unremarkable scene intriguing, and I've found myself very drawn to her character. The young actor who plays Thomas is also great. I look forward to finishing it, and though I fear the threat of predictability, I'm certain I'll still recommend this to people, especially fans of Seyfried. It's a slow-burn, but I haven't felt like I've wasted my time. If you like murder mysteries with layers and appreciate the good-but-flawed heroine cliché, I'm sure you'll like Long Bright River.

Long ago streaming platforms impressed us because they seemed to take more risk than the big national networks. Ten years later, we've come to realize they don't 'take risk' so much as they cater to niches (YA urban fantasy, rural bodice-ripper-whodunit, arty hip-hop rags-to-riches, etc.) which are by now well and truly ossified. Scroll through Netflix and you'll have to agree the vast majority of its offering is basically subcultural trash. But such imitative propensity also has its flipside: Long Bright River suggest we might soon start getting 'HBO clones'--character studies with social aspirations, disguised as thrillers or procedural. That is my niche, if I have to chose one.

LBR starts with both a bang and whimper: the bang is its general setting (patrol policing Philadelphia's homeless addicts), which is painted in broad, energetic strokes, keeping the spectator interested with its folklore and raw details. The whimper is the police station which, save for our solitary female protagonist, is a grotesque assortment of adipose, white, working-class men. Cops missing any of those attributes invariably turn into love interests and/or benevolent deus ex machina.

For better or for worse, those traits will remain the series defining feature. The writing team is largely female, and this shows in good and bad ways: the female protagonist is complex, well observed and well written (and flawlessly acted by Amanda Seyfried). The many sex workers are similarly distinctive, often brutal, and yet convincingly feminine. Unfortunately some of the secondary characters are less satisfying, particularly the often one-dimensional male ones (the exception being Gee, perhaps John Doman's best performance yet.) The result is lopsided gritty realism, that is often riveting but can sometimes feel conventional or even preachy.

The plot itself is good but not great, which is quite fitting for 'street-level' cop work: the detective work mostly occur off-screen, and once revealed, killer's plot turns out to be a little underwhelming. A thread of melodrama runs throughout, which is largely kept under control until the last third of the series, where I often resented the intrusion of rather soapy family drama into the otherwise well-plotted, fast-paced and sharply written crime story.

But despite letting this sentimentality sometimes overstepping the bounds of good taste, it remains the characters which are the true stars of the show: great dialogues, credible costumes, good and sometimes excellent acting (despite a 'prettified' casting).

There's not that much good TV out there at the moment, so if you like a gritty, socially conscious procedural, do treat yourself with Long Bright River.

Amanda Seyfried navigates a surprisingly complex murder mystery procedural in Long Bright River, an excellent cop drama miniseries and lead role showcase for one of this generation's best actresses. She plays a Philadelphia police officer who is investigating the disappearance of her addict sister (Ashleigh Cummings) and simultaneously hunting an elusive serial killer who has been targeting homeless girls in the area. Her new partner (Dash Mihok, always great) is no great help, his attitude ranging from listless indifference to half assed inaction. Her department lieutenant too is less than conducive to solving these crimes, seeming almost bothered by the need to implement manpower rather than appropriately concerned or compassionate. She deals with mutiny within her own ranks that must be smoked out into the open all while raising a young son on her own and trying to keep good relationships with her rowdy father (John Doman) and prickly ex partner (Nicholas Pinnock). For an eight episode limited series this is a really densely constructed narrative with a ton of flashbacks, subplots and a lot of characters that can sometimes be tough to keep track of but Seyfried anchors it with her performance as a woman who has been battered by life and is just trying to keep her head up and look out for those around her as evil tries to do its thing. It has a fantastic sense of place and setting, I've never been to Philly but the photography makes it feel lived in and specific where so many urban dramas just shoot in nondescript locations. Well worth a watch, streaming now on CraveTV.

Amanda Sheffield carries the full weight of a very dee cop drama extremely well. She, the entire cast is outstanding. There is a young boy around 8, Thomas, and he is a jewel. He is not at all the average kid actor. He is save. He is the man of his house, he is curious, intelligent and takes every scene he is in. His chemistry with Seyield could not be sweeter or more real. This is a cop show about a woman cop written and directed from a woman's point of view..not a cop show about a woman written from yet another man's point of view. There is a lot of backtracking and time shifts to build character background and these shifts are done with a rare clarity. The story evolves around the seeming murders of young women who live on the street. Maybe the killer is a cop. One of the brilliant things in the writing is the way we view the big city masculine dominated police culture through a woman's eyes and experience, Sheffield's character as a cop grew up in the neighbourhood of the killings. She went to school with many of them. She has a sister who is on the streets with these women and worries about her to absolute distraction. Being a patrol officer who does not normally, and is prohibited from actual investigation of crimes, she goes ahead anyway and there is your story. It is not a story for cop action fans. It is deeper and boils more slowly. Women writers, directors and actors are coming more and more into their own and it is valuable and beautiful and has things to teach all of us.

This show have a very good idea, acceptable ending and a good set of characters.

The main problem from my point of view with this series is too much melo drama in this series.

I understand that the main perspective of this series is the dramatic aspect, and they succeeded in applying that. However, in the crime world and drug situations I shouldn't be focused on the melodrama rather than the complexity of the drug creation, supplying, drug dealers and rug addicts and how all these interact.

The last point wasn't touched in this series, and this is very bad for a series that claims that drugs is the main aspect of it.

Good and could have been better.

This is my first time leaving a review on IMDB. I felt compelled because of so many poor reviews.

I am loving this show!!! Holy moly it's SO Good!!! Amanda Seyfried is very believable in this role and actually really surprised me. This show has all of my favorite things. Believable characters that I actually care about, police drama, with a female lead and soooo much suspense!!!. It had me hooked within the first episode. It reminds me a little of my favorite show of all time, The Killing. The cold, dark setting just adds that perfect feeling. The flashbacks aren't confusing either which is saying a lot.

I highly recommend.

Watch it!!

A great short series with a solid storyline. There's a bit of drag in the middle that could've been trimmed down-some scenes felt unnecessarily long, almost like the actors were improvising.

There's also a casting issue: the height differences between younger and older versions of characters don't match. The shorter ones suddenly become tall, and the tall ones shrink kinda throws off the continuity,It could've used an extra dose of suspense just before the ending a twist, maybe, especially around the heroine's search for her sister. That part had so much potential to hit harder.

But overall, it's an enjoyable series that tackles important themes especially the issue of withdrawal in babies born to mothers with addiction. I honestly didn't know about that before, and it really hit me.

The preview was so promising, the plot was good but the execution terrible. So many talented actors but wasted on this. Every backstory was as depressing as you can think. This was not a crime drama, but a regular drama about a female cop, her emotions and all the crap in her personal life. We got a dash of the investigation, as most of this is about the cup and her sister. The dialogue is awful and seems as though it was written by a high schooler or a group of feminist. No one wants an overly emotional cop with a bunch of personal issues. The whole police force, detectives everyone were bad, just bad, the so called police work, that had to be written by a kid. Also, the pace of the show was torture, absolute torture. There was so much fluff and useless conversation. It gets better around the 7th episode but the lead cop, her character is an idiot. This really should have been a movie instead of dragging it out over 8 episodes .

I think this is a very good show (long movie). I understand it is only the one season mini-series. I feel that Amanda Seyfried did a great job, as always. The only bad thing for me with this movie is I could tell who the killer was almost immediately. There were some quick clues. I am not sure why the writer of the book did it that way, but the story lays out really well and pieces slowly fit together throughout the series. I watched it twice the first week I watched it as I wanted my wife to watch it to and see the pieces fit together. I also shared it with others, as I think it is done so well. It has an exceptional message, as well, on many levels.

One thing is for sure, this was not sponsored by the Philadelphia Tourist Board.

It is grim and raw and disturbing. An insight into the underbelly of drug culture in the USA and the appalling way women are abused, most especially by the enforcement agencies who should be looking out for them.

Essentially this is a whodunnit, with a lot of twists and turns on the way. It is worth watching although there is a heavy amount of profanities throughout.

As for the lead character, Mickey, you have to take things at face value.

She is just not credible as a beat cop.

She is allowed to follow her own agenda, acts alone even on patrol (really?? I thought they always had to be paired up), she enters derelict buildings at night armed only with a gun and a flashlight and nobody know she is going there .... really??

She seems to have access to murder scenes, holding cells, archives and just about everywhere else without being questioned.

I could only made it though four episodes cause it was so boring and I didn't like the maIn lead. It's basically the same story I have seen in the multitude of times in movies and TV series young beat cop is a better detective than the people who have been doing it for decades. Amanda Seyfried does what she can with this crappy script but making her unlikeable was a big mistake. Her ex cop partner, her son, her grand father, and even her cousins were more interest characters then the main lead which doesn't make for a good show. Then the scene where the dude says its all the cops fault his son died of overdose WTF? I guess his son bear no responsibility for that D'UH! Who writes this crap!