The Girlfriend Review: A Psychological Thriller Or A Family Drama?

The Girlfriend (tv series), available on Prime Video, is a treat to the viewers which certainly keeps them on the edge of their seats, trying to discover with each passing episode who is real and who is fake.

Story Premise

From the trailer it becomes quite clear that there is this boy in his mid-twenties named Daniel (Laurie Davidson) who falls in love with this beautiful girl named Cherry (Olivia Cooke) and brings her home to meet his parents, especially his mother Laura (Robin Wright), with whom he is very emotionally attached and every decision in his life since childhood has been governed by her. The story starts, henceforth.

Storyline and Strength of the Show

The main strength of the show is that the story does not appear to be dragged much without any relevance and ends in only 6 episodes.

What is that main instinct of human beings, whenever we sense that the person we love is in danger? It is simply to protect them selflessly. The story revolves around this but the nature of the love is different for different relationships.

In each episode what we get to see are two perspectives of the same incidents happening over a day or maybe over a period of time; one from the perception of the mother Laura and another from the perception of the girlfriend, Cherry. This makes the show extremely engaging and interesting because it becomes difficult for the audience to decide between them which person is correct or doing the right thing and which is wrong.

The writers have very cleverly altered the dialogues of the same incident when they are being shown from two different person’s perspectives, indicating how a same event, even a simple day to day incident is perceived so differently by different people; each in favor of their own benefits.

Till the end of the show and even after it ends, it will be difficult to decipher who has been the more dishonest between the two and certainly the son, Daniel has been treated as a guinea pig from both the sides. It shows the conflict of a son to choose between the mother with whom he has grown up being so emotionally dependent and loved and a girlfriend to whom he has become deeply committed.

Meet the characters

Laura – The Mother

The mother, Laura, was the in-charge of an exhibition hall by profession, where paintings and art were being displayed and since the beginning of the show she has been shown as a very strong, independent woman whose only obsession was her son Daniel.

She could not think of anything other than her son and this obsession turned into possessiveness and jealousy which led her to commit certain stupid and even violent acts just to keep him with her. From the first day she had some strange suspicion about the girlfriend Cherry and throughout the show it was her search to discover the girl and prove that she might not be the perfect choice for her son.

The urge to get Cherry out of her son’s life was so intense that she even faked the death of her own son!

Cherry – The Girlfriend

The girlfriend Cherry initially appeared as a very sorted person in life, working in a Real Estate company and she met Daniel and fell in love. The love appeared to be genuine and she wanted to protect her boyfriend at any cost but there are certain past incidents related to her which gets revealed much later.

Also since she was not as financially secure as Daniel’s family was, she had an insecurity which led her to buy expensive things, while her account balance was getting dropped. The character appeared to be mysterious yet very lovable in all ways but what appeared to be most exciting was how the writers slowly fleshed out more about her character and her background with small detailing and nuances that will make the viewer crave for knowing this person more, with each passing episode.

In every episode this sheer competition between the mother and the girlfriend is sure to keep everyone hooked to the show.

Weaknesses

In particular, I did not find any strong weakness or demerits associated with the show. It was sheer brilliance in acting and all the incidents appeared to be exceptionally real.

The only thing is that the end is not truly the end, since a lot of mystery is yet to be discovered. We have to wait for The Girlfriend Season 2, which as of this writing is not green lit. But hopefully a new season with much more suspense, drama and thrill comes fast to entertain the audiences.

Rating:

Final Words

The show is a must-watch. It is not possible for a mystery lover to leave it mid-way before completing all the episodes. It is not like a conventional thriller or a murder mystery, it is psychological, extremely relatable to people and it is not what we perceive from the cover but much more than that.

To me, it is a psychologically based family drama displaying the intricacies of basic human relationships. Certainly more shows like these need to be created that challenge the audience to use their mind and decode every possible clue the makers throw at us.

What did you think of The Girlfriend? Did the shifting perspectives keep you guessing, or did you see the twists coming? And more importantly… whose side were you really on: Laura or Cherry? Drop your thoughts in the comments below, let’s get a debate going. I’m genuinely curious where everyone stands after that ending.

And don’t forget to check out our other reviews and deep dives.

Ankita

Ankita is a cineholic or a content-holic, who loves to explore contents of any genre. A dental surgeon by profession but she has not lost the excitement of watching content from around the world and interpreting them in her own way. Being a reader herself, she relates with the personality of the characters and many times becomes one of those in her tiny world of dreams...