In a year that was more crowded than most by the bodies of murdered innocents and the bulging underbellies of sleepy small towns, Top of the Lake proved to be the peak of the corpse heap. It didn’t have the body count of The Killing, the politics of The Bridge, or the tidiness of Broadchurch, but what Top of the Lake did better than any other murder mystery this year was make an impression. And it was a haunting one at that: surrounded by the imposing mountains of the New Zealand countryside, the town of Laketop was the most beguiling villain of the season, looking more gorgeous and creepily unnerving with every sweeping landscape shot.
Focusing in from a God’s eye didn’t take away from the mystery though. The more Elizabeth Moss’s steely Robin Griffin pulled at the string leading her to a missing young girl, the more Laketop’s twisted roots came bursting out from underfoot. Thanks to Jane Campion’s stunning direction, a pair of bravura supporting performances from Peter Mullan and Holly Hunter, and a piercing soundtrack, Top of the Lake made for an intoxicating blend of straight suspense, and dreamy WTF visuals.
