Deep Water

Noah Taylor is veteran police detective Nick Manning and Yael Stone costars as his young partner Tori Lustigman in this Australian crime miniseries about the murder of a gay man in Bondi Beach, a suburb of Sydney famous for its tourist beaches and nightclubs. Tori finds similarities in a series of deaths dating back 20 years and uncovers a history of hate crimes either buried or simply ignored (chalked up to suicide or accidental death by the police). She also finds a connection to the death of her younger brother, a gay teenager who kept his identity a secret from their father, who remains in denial. Stone has the more dramatic role and her aggressiveness puts her on a collision course with her boss (William McInnes), who was part of the team that dismissed the earlier deaths. Taylor plays the slow-speaking old school cop who seems to be part of the network of denial while quietly following the evidence to the truth. This is a well-made police procedural—something Australian TV has been perfecting over the past few years—but while the story is fictitious, it is also inspired by scandalous real-life events recently brought to light. As the show confronts the homophobia and brutal attacks on gay men, it reveals an ugly strain that is still alive in contemporary society even as gay culture has come out of the shadows. American audiences won't have the same geographical connection, but the themes should nonetheless resonate within some communities. Presenting all four episodes of this 2016 miniseries, extras include a photo gallery. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)