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Lock up your mother and father and youngsters, folks – The Girlfriend is the brand new Prime Video thriller you do not wish to be caught watching with anyone you get simply embarrassed round. Why? Whereas the scandal and mysteries run deep, the erotic sexiness is off the size.
Taking the cat-and-mouse hunt we see in exhibits like Killing Eve to a brand new excessive, The Girlfriend introduces audiences to a mom known as Laura (Robin Wright) when she meets her son’s new girlfriend, Cherry (Olivia Cooke). Laura immediately senses that one thing is amiss and turns into intent on proving that Cherry’s involvement in Daniel’s (Laurie Davidson) life is extra sinister than meets the attention.
As far as new thriller series go, that is fairly rattling good. Enjoying a mom and girlfriend off towards one another is dynamic we have not often seen onscreen in recent times, however add within the twin perspective from every episode (you may see the identical occasions play out twice from each Laura and Cherry’s viewpoint) and we have no thought who’s reality is the finite reality.
All of this thriller signifies that should you’re something like me, you may seemingly binge the six episodes within the blink of a watch, and even be prepared to miss the slight blunders that pepper the peaks and pits of the drama. Should you’ve learn the unique novel by Michelle Frances and assume you realize what’s coming, although, assume once more.
The Girlfriend is hands-down the streamiest stream on Prime Video in 2025
I imply, the trailer says all of it. Each Laura and Cherry are enjoying with hearth in The Girlfriend, and I’ve nonetheless received no thought whose facet I am on. We see Laura as each overly-doting (to the purpose the place I am shocked Daniel hasn’t been to remedy) and conniving, whereas Cherry is an ice-cold manipulator and hapless no one who’s in over her head.
It will come as no shock that the intimacy concerned (each household and romantic-oriented) is portrayed extremely nicely. Regardless of whether or not it was a parental argument or a intercourse scene, I felt as if I ought to avert my gaze, because it someway carried the disgrace of a teenage boy and a nervous mom concurrently. It is uncommon that such a mainstream restricted collection might make me really feel uncomfortable and intrigued on the similar time, and it is a testomony to the standard of the collection that we’re capable of sit with ethical questions no one has solutions to.
That being stated, I promise that every of our mysteries shall be answered. There aren’t any unfastened ends that we’ll come away feeling hard-done by, however there’s nonetheless a dangling ‘what if’ cliffhanger that leaves us exploring the narrative internally in larger element.
I wasn’t anticipating such a stage of introspection, nor was I anticipating such exact class commentary from The Girlfriend. Except for the messed-up love triangle that grabs our consideration, the collection can be a chopping portrayal of wealthy vs. poor, and whether or not we are able to seamlessly rise from rags to riches like we’re instructed is feasible. That is arguably the sub-plot that is performed the perfect of all, and it is genuinely value watching to have a deeper dialog about this alone.
Robin Wright is an incredible director, but that might be to Laura’s detriment
For the most part, I cannot stress enough how impeccable our ensemble cast is. Davidson plays a mommy’s boy so well that he’s fit to feature on Sabrina Carpenter’s latest album, with Tanya Moodie’s BFF Isabella a comic treat and a slam dunk for Motherland followers. They provide us all of the intercourse, scandal and specific drama we would need, however it’s not excellent.
After all, nothing is, however it’s Wright herself that bothers me probably the most. Even after watching episode 1 alone, it is abundantly clear how a lot of an beautiful director she is. The Girlfriend has a number of the finest designed episodes of 2025, and she or he’s the artistic lynchpin liable for that.
However whereas the feat of appearing and directing is spectacular, I do not fully purchase Wright as Laura onscreen. If something, she feels considerably miscast in her personal position. There is a lack of tenderness and coronary heart underpinning the selections Wright makes, though maybe that is simply because I’ve watched an excessive amount of House of Cards. Her emotional reference to these round her can really feel stilted in a approach that transcends what’s within the script, and I’m wondering what one other actress would have seemed like in her change.
Laura surprisingly has the least quantity of chemistry together with her ex-girlfriend Lilith (Anna Chancellor), even when she finds herself snogging the face off of the lady she’s supposedly by no means stopped loving. Chancellor’s appearances really feel haphazardly tacked on, and as a stalwart fictional lesbian (keep in mind Tipping the Velvet in 2002?), she deserved extra. As a real-life lesbian, I deserved extra. As an viewers, we understood Laura’s psychological anguish with out wanted to fulfill Lilith in any respect.
By the point we get to episode 3, the twin perspective cat-and-mouse verges on the predictable, and it is not till the latter half on episode 4 that The Girlfriend‘s second engine kicks into contact, driving it house to stay the touchdown. Nonetheless, these are minor points within the larger image. You would be hard-pressed to search out one other Amazon present that swings as scandalously (and efficiently) massive as this.