My Brilliant Friend

 :

Season 1
  • Network:
  • Series Premiere Date: Nov 18, 2018
My Brilliant Friend Image
Metascore
87

Universal acclaim - based on 20 Critics What's this?

User Score
8.5

Universal acclaim- based on 45 Ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
Rate this:
  • 10
  • 9
  • 8
  • 7
  • 6
  • 5
  • 4
  • 3
  • 2
  • 1
  • 0
  • 0
  • Summary: The Italian-language adaptation of Elena Ferrante's novels begins a coming-of-age story about childhood friends Elena (Elisa Del Genio) and Lila (Ludovica Nasti) in 1950s Naples.
  • Genre(s): Drama

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
  1. Boston Herald
    Reviewed by: Mark A. Perigard
    Nov 19, 2018
    100
    My Brilliant Friend is presented in Italian with subtitles. Don’t let that scare you off. Take the journey. Amid the brutality, an intimacy and honesty unlike any other flourishes.
  2. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Matt Zoller Seitz
    Nov 16, 2018
    100
    The casting is exceptional. Every face and body is credible as one that might actually have lived in that period. The performances are alert and sensitive without seeming studied. ... This is a late-breaking candidate for show of the year, a drama about the place where aspiration and reality intersect.
  3. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Darren Franich
    Nov 15, 2018
    91
    Around the lead characters, we start to see a whole generation come of age. I mean it as a compliment when I say that My Brilliant Friend is the year’s best teen drama, drawing you into the lives, loves, and struggles of a group of children cusping on adulthood.
  4. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Alan Sepinwall
    Nov 14, 2018
    90
    Throughout, we see the world the way the girls see it, knowing what they know. The world seems bigger to them, and thus their emotions always feel bigger, in ways that can make My Brilliant Friend acutely thrilling or devastating. ... This is a great show with a huge heart. Just be prepared for it to break yours every now and then.
  5. Collider
    Reviewed by: Allison Keene
    Nov 16, 2018
    80
    The story is easy to get swept up into, in regards to the rhythms of its language and the cyclical nature of its challenges. Their struggles feel both relatable and totally foreign all at once.
  6. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: James Poniewozik
    Nov 14, 2018
    80
    The adaptation has a sharp sense of time and place without nostalgia or sentimentality. Costanzo’s attention to period detail helps; it can feel as if you’re watching a lost postwar Italian film about postwar Italy.
  7. IndieWire
    Reviewed by: Ben Travers
    Nov 15, 2018
    67
    So many individual pieces are intriguing, and some even prove rewarding over hours of consideration. Still, even the most introspective series doesn’t need to be such a slog.

See all 20 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 1 out of 7
  1. Sammyjohnson
    Dec 14, 2018
    10
    Brilliant immersive television. Beautifully shot, scripted, directed and acted - this is exceptional and like nothing else currently on offer.
  2. LamontRaymond
    Nov 18, 2018
    10
    What an incredible beginning to a series.... it just feels incredibly authentic. It's remarkable that 2 of my 3 or 4 favorite shows areWhat an incredible beginning to a series.... it just feels incredibly authentic. It's remarkable that 2 of my 3 or 4 favorite shows are Italian (this and Gomorrah).… Expand
  4. rox_roli
    Dec 12, 2018
    10
    the innocence, the rawness, the passion, the despair... everything feels honest and yet marvelous, as if we were watching not a TV series, butthe innocence, the rawness, the passion, the despair... everything feels honest and yet marvelous, as if we were watching not a TV series, but a pièce (the debt towards the beloved De Filippo is huge).
    the beauty isn't much in the dialogues (and the voice-over is often irritating, but for a RAI series, hélas, necessary) but in the silences, and the looks of the characters-- in their souls.
    my brilliant friend has some flaws, of course, but it's TV poetry at its best    … Expand
  5. moviebuffers
    Dec 13, 2018
    10
    Superb. Another example of why we are truly in a second golden age of television. The acting is seamless and authentic. The photography andSuperb. Another example of why we are truly in a second golden age of television. The acting is seamless and authentic. The photography and the sets are so realistic you will truly believe you have been transported to post-war era Italy. I hope HBO will continue this series.… Expand
  6. nilsdresemann
    Nov 22, 2018
    10
    Style: 5/5, Music 5/5, Story 5/5, Characters 5/5 Don't shy away from the fact that you have to read subtitles. Engage in listening to ItalianStyle: 5/5, Music 5/5, Story 5/5, Characters 5/5 Don't shy away from the fact that you have to read subtitles. Engage in listening to Italian spoken with a southern accent. (i don't understand it myself but it sounds beautiful, more beautiful than the Italian i was used to)… Expand
  7. asmanraj
    Nov 24, 2018
    7
    Not sure what all the hype is about. Not nearly as exciting as Gomorrah, the only other Italian-language series I've watched. Overall, theNot sure what all the hype is about. Not nearly as exciting as Gomorrah, the only other Italian-language series I've watched. Overall, the first two episodes were slightly boring but watchable.… Expand
  8. OlivierPiel
    Nov 30, 2018
    0
    very disappointed. What's all the hype about? I expected a superior refined cinematography, opulent as some of the recent Italian series or atvery disappointed. What's all the hype about? I expected a superior refined cinematography, opulent as some of the recent Italian series or at least an intricate character development.
    This is just a very linear story, lined with tropes, passing as realistic art....devoid of any charm and poetry with very simplistic one-sided characters. I can only imagine how distraught the original writer must feel of this adaptation.
    If you want Italian realism of the post-world area, better rewatch Rocco and his brothers or any other Visconti or De Sica or Rosselini. There, you can find the poignancy of the Italian working class of the time.
    O tempora, o mores!    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

11
#11 Best TV Season of 2018
89
#89 Most Discussed TV Season of 2018
8
#8 Most Shared TV Season of 2018

Current TV Shows

Full List »
96 America to Me: Season 1
96 The Good Place: Season 3
92 BoJack Horseman: Season 5
90 Big Mouth: Season 2
89 Springsteen on Broadway
87 Better Call Saul: Season 4
87 My Brilliant Friend: Season 1
86 Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story
86 The Deuce: Season 2
85 GLOW: Season 2
85 The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Season 2
84 A Very English Scandal
84 Insecure: Season 3
83 Random Acts Of Flyness: Season 1
83 Homecoming: Season 1
83 Sorry for Your Loss: Season 1
80 Narcos: Mexico: Season 1
80 The Woman in White
79 Bodyguard: Season 1
79 The Haunting of Hill House: Season 1
All Current TV Shows »