''Unbelievable'' is an American

true crime True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 pe ...

television miniseries starring

Toni Collette Toni Collette Galafassi (born Toni Collett; 1 November 1972) is an Australian actress, producer, singer, and songwriter. Known for her work in television and independent films, she has received various accolades throughout her career, inclu ...

Merritt Wever Merritt Carmen Wever (born August 11, 1980) is an American actress. She is known for starring as a perennially upbeat young nurse in ''Nurse Jackie'' (2009–2015), an intrepid widow in the Netflix period miniseries '' Godless'' (2017), and a de ...

, and

Kaitlyn Dever Kaitlyn Rochelle Dever (; born December 21, 1996) is an American actress. She gained recognition for her roles in the FX crime drama television series '' Justified'' (2011–2015), the ABC/ Fox sitcom '' Last Man Standing'' (2011–2021), the N ...

. It is about a series of rapes in Washington State and Colorado. The show was co-created by

Susannah Grant Susannah Grant (born January 4, 1963) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. Life and career Grant was born in New York City. She studied at Amherst College and attended the AFI Conservatory. From 1994 to 1997 she worked on televi ...

Ayelet Waldman Ayelet Waldman ( he, איילת ולדמן, born December 11, 1964) is an Israeli-American novelist and essayist. She has written seven mystery novels in the series ''The Mommy-Track Mysteries'' and four other novels. She has also written autobio ...

, and

Michael Chabon Michael Chabon ( ; born May 24, 1963) is an American novelist, screenwriter, columnist, and short story writer. Born in Washington, DC, he spent a year studying at Carnegie Mellon University before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh, gr ...

. All three co-creators and Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly, and

Katie Couric Katherine Anne Couric ( ; born January 7, 1957) is an American journalist and presenter. She is founder of Katie Couric Media, a multimedia news and production company. She also publishes a daily newsletter, ''Wake Up Call''. From 2013 to 2017, ...

were executive producers. It was released on September 13, 2019, on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

. The miniseries is based on the 2015 news article "

An Unbelievable Story of Rape "An Unbelievable Story of Rape" is a 2015 article about a series of rapes in the American states of Washington and Colorado that occurred between 2008 and 2011, and the subsequent police investigations. It was a collaboration between two American ...

", written by

T. Christian Miller T. Christian Miller is an investigative reporter, editor, author, and war correspondent for ProPublica. He has focused on how multinational corporations operate in foreign countries, documenting human rights and environmental abuses. Miller has ...

and Ken Armstrong, and their 2018 book ''A False Report'' based on the same research. The series received critical acclaim.

Premise

A dramatization of the 2008–2011

Washington and Colorado serial rape cases Between 2008 and 2011, a series of rapes in the suburbs around Seattle and Denver were perpetrated by Marc Patrick O'Leary, an Army veteran who had been stationed near Tacoma. The first victim, an 18-year-old woman known as Marie, reported to Se ...

, ''Unbelievable'' follows "Marie, a teenager who was charged with lying about having been raped, and the two detectives who followed a twisting path to arrive at the truth". The program draws from "

" (2015), a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

-winning article by

and Ken Armstrong for

ProPublica ProPublica (), legally Pro Publica, Inc., is a nonprofit organization based in New York City. In 2010, it became the first online news source to win a Pulitzer Prize, for a piece written by one of its journalists''The Guardian'', April 13, 2010P ...

and

The Marshall Project The Marshall Project is a nonprofit, online journalism organization focusing on issues related to criminal justice in the United States. It was founded by former hedge fund manager Neil Barsky with former ''New York Times'' executive editor Bi ...

. It also draws from the related book ''A False Report'' (2018), by the same authors.

Cast and characters

Main

as Det. Grace Rasmussen, a Westminster Police Department detective in

Westminster, Colorado The City of Westminster is a home rule municipality located in Adams and Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. The city population was 116,317 at the 2020 United States Census with 71,240 residing in Adams County and 45,077 residing in ...

; inspired by Edna Hendershot. *

as Det. Karen Duvall, a Golden Police Department detective in

Golden, Colorado Golden is a home rule city that is the county seat of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 20,399 at the 2020 United States Census. Golden lies along Clear Creek at the base of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountai ...

; inspired by Stacy Galbraith. *

as Marie Adler, a survivor of sexual assault.

Recurring

Eric Lange Eric Lange (born February 19, 1973) is an American actor. He is known for his work on television, where he has appeared in a wide variety of both supporting and leading roles. Lange played the recurring roles of Stuart Radzinsky on the ''ABC'' ...

as Det. Parker, a Lynnwood Police Department detective in

Lynnwood, Washington Lynnwood is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The city is part of the Seattle metropolitan area and is located north of Seattle and south of Everett, near the junction of Interstate 5 and Interstate 405. It is the f ...

who is assigned to Marie's case; inspired by Sergeant Jeffrey Mason *

Bill Fagerbakke William Fagerbakke ( ; born October 4, 1957) is an American actor. He voices Patrick Star in the animated series ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and played Michael "Dauber" Dybinski on the sitcom ''Coach (TV series), Coach''. He also appeared in 12 ep ...

as Det. Pruitt, a Lynnwood Police Department detective also assigned to Marie's case; inspired by Jerry Rittgarn *

Elizabeth Marvel Elizabeth Marvel (born November 27, 1969) is an American actress. Her most prominent roles include Det. Nancy Parras on ''The District'', Solicitor General Heather Dunbar on ''House of Cards'', and President Elizabeth Keane on ''Homeland''. Fil ...

as Judith, Marie's most recent foster mom *

Bridget Everett Bridget Everett (born April 21, 1972) is an American comedian, actress, singer, writer, and cabaret performer. She has starred in the semi-autobiographical 2022 HBO series '' Somebody Somewhere'', the movie '' Fun Mom Dinner'', and in a one-hou ...

as Colleen Doggett, one of Marie's former foster moms *

Danielle Macdonald Danielle Louise Macdonald (born 19 May 1991) is an Australian actress, known for her lead roles as Patricia "Patti" Dombrowski in the drama film ''Patti Cake$'' (2017), and Willowdean Dickson in ''Dumplin (2018). She is also known for her ro ...

as Amber, a victim of sexual assault *

Dale Dickey Diana Dale Dickey (born September 29, 1961) is an American character actress who has worked in theater, film, and television. She began her career on stage, performing in the 1989 Broadway version of ''The Merchant of Venice'', before appearing ...

as RoseMarie, a veteran detective at the Westminster Police Department *

Liza Lapira Liza Lapira (born December 3, 1981) is an American actress. She played Kianna in the 2008 film '' 21'', Special Agent Michelle Lee in the CBS police procedural series '' NCIS'' and Ivy, Topher Brink's assistant in ''Dollhouse''. Lapira has also c ...

as Mia, a police surveillance expert *

Omar Maskati Omar Maskati is an American actor known for his roles in ''Better Call Saul'' and '' Unbelievable''. He recently starred in the movie ''Evil Eye'' and had main roles in the television series '' Good Sam'' and '' As We See It''. Personal life Mask ...

as Elias, RoseMarie's data analyst intern at the Westminster Police Department * Austin Hébert as Max Duvall, Karen's husband who is a police officer at the Westminster Police Department * Kai Lennox as Steve Rasmussen, Grace's husband who is an investigator with the Attorney General's office in Westminster, Colorado * Blake Ellis as Chris McCarthy, the serial rapist behind the attacks; inspired by Marc Patrick O'Leary *

Aaron Staton Aaron Staton (born August 10, 1980) is an American actor. He played Ken Cosgrove on the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–2015) and voiced Cole Phelps in the video game '' L.A. Noire'' (2011), for which he was nominated for a BAFTA for Best ...

as Curtis McCarthy, Chris's brother and a suspect; inspired by Michael O'Leary * Patricia Fa'asua as Becca, a counselor at the Oakdale Apartments for at-risk youth *

Charlie McDermott Charles Joseph McDermott Jr. (born April 6, 1990) is an American television and film actor, and musician, best known for his role as Axl Heck on ABC's '' The Middle''. He was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male ...

as Ty, a counselor at the Oakdale Apartments for at-risk youth * Brent Sexton as Al, Colleen's husband and Marie's former foster father * Annaleigh Ashford as Lilly, a victim of sexual assault *

Scott Lawrence Scott Lawrence (born September 27, 1963) is an American actor best known for his role as Cmdr. Sturgis Turner on the CBS series '' JAG''. Lawrence played the role from 2001 until 2005, when the series ended. He is also known for being the maj ...

as Billy Taggart, an FBI special agent *

Shane Paul McGhie Shane Paul McGhie (born November 26, 1993) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his role as Deputy Joseph Harris in Entertainment One's crime drama television series '' Deputy''. Life and career McGhie was born in Los A ...

as Connor, Marie's ex-boyfriend *

Hendrix Yancey Hendrix Kate Yancey (born August 25, 2011) is an American actress. She is known for her starring role as Jan Broberg in '' A Friend Of The Family'' and her earlier roles in Netflix's series '' Stranger Things'' and '' Unbelievable'', and Amazon P ...

as Daisy, Duvall's daughter

Guest

Nick Searcy Nicholas Alan Searcy (born March 7, 1959) is an American character actor best known for portraying Chief Deputy United States Marshal Art Mullen on FX's '' Justified''. He also had a major role in the Tom Hanks–produced miniseries ''From the ...

as Detective Harkness * Brooke Smith as Dara Kaplan, Marie's therapist *

John Billingsley John Billingsley (, born May 20, 1960) is an American actor best known for his role as Doctor Phlox on the television series '' Star Trek: Enterprise''. Early life and education Billingsley was born in Media, Pennsylvania, and subsequently liv ...

as Judge Brent Gordon *

Vanessa Bell Calloway Vanessa Bell Calloway ( Bell; born March 20, 1957) is an American actress. Beginning her career as a dancer, Bell Calloway became known for her film roles as Princess Imani Izzi in the 1988 comedy ''Coming to America'', as well as for her roles ...

as Sarah, a victim of sexual assault *

Tom Amandes Tom Amandes (born March 9, 1959) is an American actor. His best-known role to date is that of Eliot Ness in the 1990s television series ''The Untouchables''; he also played Geena Davis' boyfriend in '' The Long Kiss Goodnight'', and Abraham Lin ...

as Bruce Bronstein, Marie's lawyer

Production

Development

On January 22, 2018,

ordered ''Unbelievable'' from Timberman/Beverly Productions and

CBS Television Studios CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount Television, as a renaming of the o ...

with executive producers including

, Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly, and

. The eight episode miniseries is based on an article by

and

, "

" written by

and Ken Armstrong about a case in

. There was also a concurrently-published ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internatio ...

'' radio episode about the same case, ''Anatomy of Doubt''. Grant served as showrunner and also wrote for the series along with

and

Casting

On June 25, 2018, it was announced that

, and

had been cast in the series' main roles. On July 26, 2018, it was reported that

had joined the main cast. In August 2018, it was announced that Kai Lennox, Austin Hébert,

, Omar Maskati,

, and

had been cast in recurring roles. On September 26, 2018, it was reported that

had joined the cast in a recurring capacity.

Episodes

Reception

Critical response

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the series holds an approval rating of 98% based on 84 reviews, with an average rating of 8.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Heartbreaking and powerful, ''Unbelievable'' transcends familiar true-crime beats by shifting its gaze to survivors of abuse, telling their stories with grace and gravity." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, it has a weighted average score of 83 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Audience viewership

On October 17, 2019, Netflix announced that the miniseries had been viewed by over 32 million viewers after its release on their platform.

Accolades

References

External links

* *
"An Unbelievable Story of Rape"
(ProPublica)
"An Unbelievable Story of Rape"
(The Marshall Project)
''Anatomy of Doubt''
episode 581 of ''

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Unbelievable 2010s American drama television miniseries 2019 American television series debuts 2019 American television series endings English-language Netflix original programming Rape in television Television series by CBS Studios Television shows set in Colorado Television shows set in Washington (state)