I don't know how many people actually watched Jane Campion's brilliant, mesmerizing slow burn of a mystery series, Top of the Lake, but they really missed something special. Hopefully they'll catch up with it now that the second season, titled Top of the Lake: China Girl is gearing up with an impressive cast that includes the returning Elisabeth Moss and new addition, Nicole Kidman.
Kidman had been rumored for a role in the series last fall but those reports were soon after denied. Maybe it was all a matter of timing as she's now officially part of the cast, joined by Brienne of Tarth aka Gwendoline Christie, along with Liv Hewson, David Dencik, Alice Englert from the underrated Beautiful Creatures, and Ewen Leslie. This will be a reunion between Kidman and Campion who worked together on Portrait of a Lady and 2003's In the Cut which they produced together.
Campion will co-direct along with Ariel Kleiman (of the excellent Partisan) and co-writing once again with Gerald Lee. The story takes place four years after the events of the prior series and finds Moss' troubled detective Robin Griffin investigating the mystery of an unidentified girl's body that washes up on Sydney's Bondi Beach.
The first season premiered in its entirety at Sundance and at the time I wasn't about to sit through a 7-hour run of anything. That would be my entire day down the chute. But if they do that again for season two I may just make that sacrifice. [Deadline]
