The Girlfriend- Review

 Right then — The Girlfriend (2025). A psychological thriller so British it practically smells of Waitrose champagne and suppressed emotions.

We begin with Laura, played by Robin Wright — a woman who’s got it all: money, a career, a lovely house that looks like it was decorated by someone with a Pinterest addiction, and a son who appears to be made entirely of naivety and bad decisions. Enter Cherry, the new girlfriend — younger, charming, mysterious, and with that unmistakable air of “she’s definitely up to something.”

What follows is a battle of wits between two women who’d both rather die than admit they might be wrong. Laura starts sniffing around like a bloodhound with a PhD in paranoia, while Cherry plays innocent so convincingly you almost want to believe her. Almost.

Now, the setup’s great — Gone Girl on a yacht, You without the voiceover, EastEnders with better lighting. And the acting? Spot on. Robin Wright could make buttering toast look sinister, and Olivia Cooke’s Cherry could charm a parking ticket out of existence. The tension between them is so thick you could spread it on crumpets.

But, my God, the plot. It’s like watching a slow-motion car crash in a Lidl car park. You can’t look away, but you do keep wondering why no one’s hitting the brakes. There are so many twists that by episode four you’ve stopped caring who’s lying and started wondering if anyone on this show has ever heard of therapy.

And poor Daniel — the son caught in the middle. The man’s as sharp as a marble. Two women are psychologically duelling over him, and he’s standing there blinking like he’s buffering.

The production, though, is stunning. Every shot looks like it belongs in a luxury magazine. Everyone wears suspiciously immaculate coats. It’s less a thriller and more a five-hour advert for Scandinavian furniture.

By the end, the truth comes out — sort of — in a way that’ll make you go, “Wait, that’s it?” It’s as if the writers built a rollercoaster, made you queue for an hour, and then gave you a slightly wobbly roundabout instead.

Still, it’s entertaining. The tension works, the performances are excellent, and it’s just trashy enough to keep you watching “one more episode” at 2am.

Verdict: 7/10. Beautifully acted, stylishly shot, and as logical as a flat tyre on a unicycle. If The Girlfriend were a car, it’d be a Range Rover Sport — glossy, expensive-looking, and completely unhinged once you take it 

off the driveway.