Considering the number of books and stories Stephen King has allowed others to adapt over the decades, it’s remarkable that he’s adapting his own “Lisey’s Story” (Apple TV+, streaming) himself, writing all eight episodes.
Two of them debut today and they create a definite mood of what is one of King’s most personal works — about a famous writer in Maine who dies a violent death, leaving his wife to fend off literary vultures even as she replays scenes from the marriage in her mind.
Julianne Moore plays Lisey opposite Clive Owen’s author — who ends up being in quite a lot of this. But Moore’s character also deals with her two sisters, and you’d be hard pressed to find a stronger sisterhood than her alongside Jennifer Jason Leigh and Joan Allen. But everyone is going a little bit crazy and there’s a definite psycho threatening played by a chilling Dane DeHaan.
J.J. Abrams is an executive producer here, and he has a knack for conjuring a mystery that draws one in (was that a shrub creature looming, or a smoke monster?). “Lisey’s Story” looks to stand with his work on “Lost” and “Watchmen” — at least for now.
King’s control over the narrative may be the interesting part. He shifts to dream sequences and recollections of the past with ease and shocking bits of violence suddenly occur.
King told reporters on a TV Critics Association video session earlier this year he wanted to adapt “Lisey’s Story” “because it’s the one I love best.
“It’s a story about love and marriage and the creative impulse. And it’s also got a kick-ass villain in it, which I liked a lot,” he said. “This was a passion project.”