Robin Wright stars as an affluent woman whose suspicions about her son’s new girlfriend (Olivia Cooke) lead her to cross a shocking line
As the old axiom goes, mother knows best. But does she really?
That question is at the heart of The Girlfriend, a gripping psychological thriller based on the debut novel from Michelle Frances that centres on Laura (Robin Wright), a celebrated figure in the art world who runs a prestigious London gallery. From the outside looking in, her life is as perfect as it is affluent, with a happy marriage to attentive husband Howard (Waleed Zuaiter) and a close relationship with their only child, son Daniel (Laurie Davidson) — to say nothing of a lavish lifestyle that includes a posh London townhouse and an oceanfront mansion in Majorca.
However, everything begins to unravel for Laura when Daniel introduces his parents to his new girlfriend, Cherry (Olivia Cooke). That first meeting is marked by some awkward moments, and Laura begins to suspect that Cherry isn’t who she claims to be. Those suspicions grow, eventually to extreme proportions, as Laura goes to increasingly unhinged lengths to prove that her misgivings are founded.
“She feels suspicious of this girl from the get-go, because she’s feeling the white lies . . . but this just goes to another level,” Wright — who also directed the series’ episodes — told NBC’s Today.
“Is she a manipulative social climber, or is Laura just paranoid? The truth is a matter of perspective,” notes the series synopsis, highlighting the show’s distinguishing characteristic: much like HBO’s The Affair, as the story plays out, viewers see events from the perspective of both Laura and Cherry to demonstrate that two people can have vastly differing recollections of the same event.
In order to portray this, Wright was required to shoot the same scenes twice, in subtly different ways, in order to illustrate the women’s contrasting perspectives.
“It was almost like doing arithmetic,” she explained. “You know, we had the script supervisor make two lists. ‘These are the angles we’d like to do from this perspective, and then go to the other side of the room and shoot this way, and go closer on Cherry, and maybe change the dialogue a little bit.’ It’s the way we live in life, it’s the way individuals perceive, ‘Did that really happen that way? Was it really said in that tone?’ And that’s what the show is about.”
Appearing alongside Wright on Fox 10 Phoenix, Cooke discussed the power dynamic between these two powerful women. “It’s about two women who sort of go head to head,” Cooke said. “They are both trying to hold onto the affections of this man.”
Caught in the middle of this psychological tug of war is Daniel, who is more or less oblivious to the tensions arising between his girlfriend and his mother. “He loves both women hugely, and I think what he finds wonderful in Cherry he recognizes in his mother, and thinks, ‘Oh my god, those two are going to get on like a house on fire. Two brilliant women who I love, so why wouldn’t they love each other?’ And he just gets it so wrong,” Cooke said.
According to Wright, portraying conflicting versions of events lends an ambiguity that allows viewers to draw their own conclusions — which might not always be for the right reasons. “It’s how you perceive it based on your emotionality,” Wright said. “It could be triggered from the past that makes you suspicious of a Cherry. Cherry doesn’t like to be told no, and she’ll do everything in her power to keep this boyfriend that she loves and that she feels she wants to spend the rest of her life with. And the mother is just like, ‘Over my dead body.’”
For Cooke, acting opposite an actor who is also her director was a revelatory experience, allowing both her and Wright the freedom to make bold acting choices. “So Robin’s in the scene playing Laura, but she’s also giving me very intricate, nuanced direction whilst we’re in the scene,” recalled Cooke. “So that actually helped me be really comfortable with going to the extreme . . . it was really kinetic.”
When filming had wrapped, Wright had a wealth of material when it came time to put the episodes together in the editing room. “I could choose, how severe do I want Cherry to be in her rage here? How emotional do I want her to be with Daniel as she’s telling a big white lie to him about her past?” she said. “So it’s about suspicions. And are my suspicions right, and god, I need to get to the bottom of ‘Am I right?’ And [Cherry] just refuses to relent. She’s gonna win.”
The Girlfriend, streaming on Wednesday, September 17, on Prime Video