04-10-2017, 12:58 PM
The Girlfriend Experience, Season 1 (2016)
[Image: girl1.jpg?type=w2]
Unlike the 2009 movie, which I sampled but bailed on, this very different riff on the underlying theme is as much a psychological and legal thriller as it is a sex work procedural. It's also a character study that's constantly withholding not only answers but basic details, with abrupt time jumps, subplots that come and go, and a largely inscrutable heroine. Even when character work is foregrounded, tone reigns supreme; this is more American Psycho than Secretary. Riley Keough, one of Fury Road's slave women and real-life granddaughter of Elvis, is terrific, often inscrutable by design, but never not compelling.
The second season will feature an all-new cast and two new storylines. As solid as this 13 half-hour-ep run was, I hope they drastically mix up the tone and style, too, as more of the same would likely be tedious.
B+
[Image: girl1.jpg?type=w2]
Unlike the 2009 movie, which I sampled but bailed on, this very different riff on the underlying theme is as much a psychological and legal thriller as it is a sex work procedural. It's also a character study that's constantly withholding not only answers but basic details, with abrupt time jumps, subplots that come and go, and a largely inscrutable heroine. Even when character work is foregrounded, tone reigns supreme; this is more American Psycho than Secretary. Riley Keough, one of Fury Road's slave women and real-life granddaughter of Elvis, is terrific, often inscrutable by design, but never not compelling.
The second season will feature an all-new cast and two new storylines. As solid as this 13 half-hour-ep run was, I hope they drastically mix up the tone and style, too, as more of the same would likely be tedious.
B+
![[+]](https://forums.fanedit.org/images/focus/collapse_collapsed.png)