Amazon Prime’s The Girlfriend just dropped, and it’s the kind of show that makes you want to text your group chat mid-episode with a big “wait… WHAT?!” moment. Based on Michelle Frances’s novel, the six-part miniseries takes a simple setup: a guy brings home a new girlfriend, and his mom doesn’t trust her. It spins that into a full-blown psychological cage match where you’re never sure who’s actually dangerous.
Robin Wright plays Laura, a polished London gallery owner who’s proud of her perfect little family. Enter Olivia Cooke as Cherry, the girlfriend who’s smart, charming, and maybe a little too perfect. From their first meeting, you can feel Laura’s radar buzzing. She spots tiny red flags, and suddenly every smile from Cherry feels like a trap. The show flips perspectives between Laura and Cherry, so you’re constantly wondering: is Cherry playing the long game, or is Laura just spiraling into paranoia? Spoiler: it’s both.
Things escalate fast. Laura stalks, schemes, and even hacks Cherry’s accounts to mess with her job. Cherry fires back with equal energy, pulling moves that make her look way more calculating than she first seemed. One episode they’re locked in a cold war, the next they’re at a Spanish poolside where Laura saves Cherry from drowning, and you almost believe peace is possible until it all goes sideways again.
The finale is wild. Laura drugs Daniel (her son, caught in the middle of this mess) so she can finally “prove” Cherry’s dark side. But when the confrontation explodes by the pool, Daniel, confused and terrified, ends up making an irreversible choice between the two. It’s messy, shocking, and exactly the kind of ending that gets people arguing online. Then the show flashes forward: Daniel and Cherry are married, expecting a baby, and looking like the picture of happiness. Until Daniel finds an old recording of Cherry’s mom warning Laura that Cherry can’t be trusted. Cherry, glowing and pregnant, smiles in the background, and suddenly the whole story feels even darker.
The performances sell it. Wright nails the unraveling, turning Laura from calm and controlled to obsessive and scary. Cooke makes Cherry unpredictable, sometimes vulnerable, sometimes icy enough to give you chills. Laurie Davidson plays Daniel as that classic nice guy stuck in way over his head, and it totally works. Even when the twists go a little over the top, the acting and slick pacing keep you hooked. Honestly, it’s addictive, the perfect weekend binge if you like your thrillers glossy, twisty, and a little unhinged.
It’s billed as a limited series, but I can see a possible season two. And after that ending, fans are going to want answers. For now, The Girlfriend works as a tense, binge-worthy ride that leaves you questioning who you’d really trust if someone new stepped into your life.
The Girlfriend is available now on Prime Video.
