Don’t be fooled by the bland title. Adapted from Michelle Frances’ blockbuster novel, The Girlfriend is a well-kindled tinderbox of a psychological thriller. Over six taut, twisty episodes – the first three directed by its star, Robin Wright – it coaxes narrative explosions from a noxious combination of grief, class conflict, maternal instinct, female rivalry and genuinely shocking deception. For much of the runtime, you won’t know who to root for. If you do, you might regret it afterwards.
Laura (Wright) is a London art gallery owner with a seemingly charmed life. She and her hotelier husband Howard (Waleed Zuaiter) split their time between a fancy St John’s Wood mansion with a pool in the basement and an equally fancy holiday home in Spain. Their loving son Danny (Laurie Davidson) is training to become a doctor and doesn’t seem to want to cut the apron strings anytime soon.
Actually, there’s an early hint that Danny’s relationship with his mother might be a little too close. While she’s doing laps in the pool, he sneaks in and dunks her underwater. They both find it hilarious, but surely most twentysomething sons don’t behave like this?
Laura’s frictionless existence hits a serious snag when Danny brings home his new girlfriend, Cherry (Olivia Cooke). She’s polite, well presented and Laura is instantly suspicious of her motives. When she makes fun of Cherry’s supposedly déclassé name with her elegant bestie Isabella (Tanya Moodie), the younger woman overhears her.
From a purely snobbish point of view, Laura isn’t off the mark. Cherry is trying to pass herself off as a public schoolgirl whose late father was an architect when she’s actually the upwardly mobile daughter of a butcher and a builder. She’s clearly lying, but does this make her a sociopathic threat to Laura’s son? The Girlfriend keeps us guessing with cleverly crafted episodes told from two perspectives.
At the start of each episode, a title card tells us whether the story will progress from either Laura’s viewpoint or Cherry’s. Then, midway through, another title card informs us that we’re now seeing things through the other woman’s eyes. The two halves of each episode aren’t mirror images of one another but we do see how each protagonist interprets the other’s actions differently. What might be a defensive move in Cherry’s mind can seem like an act of war to Laura. A nervous joke might be interpreted as a bitchy dig.
As the series progresses, the narrative becomes gleefully and gloriously pulpy. One dramatic development stretches credulity to absolute breaking point. It’s executed with such conviction that you’ll swallow it anyway.
Crucially, every power play is sold by Wright (who imbues Laura with a fascinating mix of coolness and something more frenzied) and Cooke (who makes Cherry’s chameleonic qualities compelling and oddly moving.) She never lets her almost convincing upper-crust accent slip. At the same time, she doesn’t hesitate to sock her ex-boyfriend right outside her workplace.
Even at its silliest, this series has more style than the average streaming thriller – a giddy sex scene is soundtracked by Wet Leg‘s rambunctious indie banger ‘Chaise Longue’. Ultimately, The Girlfriend works because it layers its campy alpha female face-off with enough psychological intrigue to feel like prestige TV. You won’t be able to look away.
‘The Girlfriend’ is out September 10 on Amazon Prime Video