Unbelievable (miniseries)

Unbelievable is an American true crime television miniseries starring Toni Collette, Merritt Wever, and Kaitlyn Dever. It is about a series of rapes in Washington State and Colorado. The show was co-created by Susannah Grant, Ayelet Waldman, and Michael Chabon. All three co-creators and Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly, and Katie Couric were executive producers. It was released on September 13, 2019, on Netflix.
The miniseries is based on the 2015 news article "An Unbelievable Story of Rape", written by T. Christian Miller 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, "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 "An Unbelievable Story of Rape" (2015), a Pulitzer Prize-winning article by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong for ProPublica and The Marshall Project. It also draws from the related book "A False Report" (2018), by the same authors.
Production.
Development.
On January 22, 2018, Netflix ordered "Unbelievable" from Timberman/Beverly Productions and CBS Television Studios with executive producers including Susannah Grant, Michael Chabon, Ayelet Waldman, Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly, and Katie Couric. The eight episode miniseries is based on an article by ProPublica and The Marshall Project, "An Unbelievable Story of Rape" written by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong about a case in Lynnwood, Washington. There was also a concurrently-published "This American Life" radio episode about the same case, "Anatomy of Doubt". Grant served as showrunner and also wrote for the series along with Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman.
Casting.
On June 25, 2018, it was announced that Toni Collette, Merritt Wever, and Kaitlyn Dever had been cast in the series' main roles. On July 26, 2018, it was reported that Danielle Macdonald had joined the main cast. In August 2018, it was announced that Kai Lennox, Austin Hébert, Dale Dickey, Omar Maskati, Elizabeth Marvel, Liza Lapira, and Eric Lange had been cast in recurring roles. On September 26, 2018, it was reported that Vanessa Bell Calloway had joined the cast in a recurring capacity.
Reception.
Critical response.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 98% based on 82 reviews, with an average rating of 8.6/10. 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, 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.