By Grace Gorsline
Staff Writer
Bringing a special someone to meet your parents for the first time can be a stressful event. Will your parents like this person as much as you do? Will your person like your parents? Will they get along? Will your parents tell really embarrassing stories about you from when they had to change your diapers?
All of these are reasonable worries to have when it comes to meeting the parents, however, Amazon Prime’s “The Girlfriend” takes this interaction to dangerous heights.
In a psychological thriller unlike any other, Daniel Sanderson, played by Laurie Davidson, brings his new girlfriend, Cherry Laine, played by Olivia Cooke, to meet his parents, played by Robin Wright and Waleed Zuaiter. Daniel’s mother, Laura Sanderson, is nothing short of enraged to find out her son is wrapped up in his new love.
The show starts off displaying Laura’s seemingly perfect life. She owns and runs an art gallery, is married to a wealthy husband and has a very close relationship with her son, Daniel. When Daniel brings home his new girlfriend, Cherry, to meet his parents, there is instant tension.
From then on, this tension spirals out of control, leaving Laura and Cherry going to drastic measures, forcing Daniel to choose one of them.
The whole time these events are unfolding, viewers see things from a different perspective. First, we see things through Laura’s lens, then we see the same scene, but through Cherry’s lens, and it switches back and forth throughout the whole season.
Laura’s side of the story makes Cherry seem more unhinged or prone to violence, while Cherry’s side of the story makes Laura seem controlling and super possessive of her son. It is up to the viewers to decide whose perspective is the most accurate.
All in all, the acting was what kept audiences interested. Cooke and Wright fully embraced their characters’ roles and made viewers feel the conflict between them. They made the audience feel fully immersed in this conflict of control and attention. They also kept viewers on their feet because, at times, it was hard to tell who to believe.
Daniel’s character, on the other hand, felt slightly unrealistic. For most of the beginning part of the series, he was very aloof and unaware of the situation occurring between his girlfriend and mother, which isn’t very practical because their conflict was very obvious throughout the entirety of the show.
Additionally, the sets and scenery of the show were beautiful. Many of the scenes expressed slightly muted colors in order to help Cherry stand out with her bright red lipstick and hair. This was purposeful to show viewers the tension between social classes.
Cherry was not nearly as financially stable as Daniel and his wealthy family. The contrast of the sets presented was a reminder of her “otherness” as Laura, especially, was not very accepting of those who did not have the same financial status as her.
In total, “The Girlfriend” was an impressive psychological thriller that kept the viewers guessing. The plot was intriguing, the actors were on point and the suspense was chilling.
If you are looking for a series that explores motifs of control, manipulation and social status with a spicy romance along with a twisted mother-son relationship, then this is your next binge-worthy show.
