How do you choose between two people you love?
In Prime Video’s “The Girlfriend,” the choice is as grueling as possible, pitting Daniel (Laurie Davidson) between his girlfriend Cherry (Olivia Cooke) and mother Laura (Robin Wright). From the outside, Laura could be loving, protective, overbearing, even intrusive — while Cherry sows doubt for hiding pieces of her past despite ostensibly adoring her new beau.
On paper, it could be any soapy summer read or weekend binge, but the limited series manages to hit the exact tonal sweet spot for this kind of story. Like the source material from author Michelle Frances, Naomi Sheldon and Gabbie Asher’s TV adaptation is told from multiple points of view, leaving the audience and remaining characters to make their own choices about who’s truthful and who’s lying — and why.
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The show starts out by depicting everything from both Laura and Cherry’s perspective, along with their individual scenes. By the middle episodes, each POV moves the story forward in its own time, either recounting separate events, or picking up chronologically where the other left off. By the end, both women are arguably being honest — about the lies they’ve told each other, Daniel, other people, and themselves — but the dissonant lenses on their shared reality (a.k.a. Daniel) can no longer coexist.
That balancing act wouldn’t be possible without the mastery of Cooke and Wright (who also directed the first three episodes), whose tension forms the basis of every relationship and plot point in the six-episode series. Wright hits the exact right note of desperate determination; sometimes the show pulls back or changes perspective to preserve Laura’s image, but halfway through the season she lets loose with an unhinged turn that will guarantee viewers stay through the end.
Cooke is irresistible as always, playing a delicious mix of femme fatale, girl next door, and genuine psychopath — depending on who you believe. As regal as she is in “House of the Dragon,” “The Girlfriend” gives the actor a palpable physical freedom (not to mention a truly stunning modern wardrobe).
With the focus mainly on Cooke, Wright, and Davidson, the ensemble is tight and rounded out by supporting performances from Waleed Zuaiter, Tanya Moodie, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Karen Henthorn, Anna Chancellor, Leo Suter, and Francesca Corney. Niamh Coulter’s production design and sleek costuming by Joanna Johnston and Aaron Timperley sells the pocket of British wealth that Daniel and those close to him occupy, and which Cherry won’t rest until she acquires. Music supervisor Matt Biffa relishes more than a few needle drops catered to scandalous character beats that only enrich this viewing experience.
It’s best to leave the story there for spoilers’ sake, but “The Girlfriend” is exactly the kind of psychological and soapy binge to kick off the fall TV season, easily devoured in one indulgent sitting with a cheeky drink and lots of yelling at the screen. The twists vary in actual shock value, but the tension provides enough of a hook to follow this warped love story to its conclusion. Maybe you don’t choose between people you love; maybe they choose for you.
Grade: B+
All six episodes of “The Girlfriend” are now streaming on Prime Video.
