• Network: HBO
  • Series Premiere Date: Nov 18, 2018
Season #: 4, 3, 2, 1
Metascore
96

Universal acclaim - based on 6 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6

Critic Reviews

  1. Reviewed by: Chris Bennion
    Mar 11, 2022
    100
    Sublime television. And not a cliffhanger or kitchen island in sight.
  2. Reviewed by: Rebecca Nicholson
    Mar 10, 2022
    100
    This is television at its best and it weaves a spell unlike anything I have seen in a very long time. It demands concentration but rewards it generously.
  3. Reviewed by: Amanda Whiting
    Feb 28, 2022
    100
    Engrossing. ... The series, like Ferrante’s book, offers a vivid, close treatment of female friendship. The relationship between Lenù and Lila remains constant in its inconstancy, sustained by jealous curiosity alongside affection. This season, it’s the interactions between Lenù and her mother Immacolata (Annarita Vitolo) that struck me as new and edifying.
  4. Reviewed by: Inkoo Kang
    Feb 28, 2022
    100
    The still-stellar new season isn’t quite as urgent or consummate as its predecessor, but a turn toward the existential feels absolutely right as the women compare and critique each other’s half-complete journeys toward liberation.
  5. Reviewed by: Noel Murray
    Feb 22, 2022
    91
    The main reason to love My Brilliant Friend is that it contains one of the most honest, unsentimental depictions of friendship—female or otherwise—in either literature or television.
  6. Reviewed by: Carol Midgley
    Mar 10, 2022
    80
    It is stunning, gorgeously acted and directed and, though it’s still early days, looks likely to be the best series yet. I would have given episode one five stars were it not for the fact that Lenu’s friend, Lila, played by Gaia Girace, wasn’t in it.
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 27 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 27
  2. Negative: 5 out of 27
  1. Apr 8, 2022
    2
    It's funny how Ferrante, considered average at best in Italy and France, is revered in the "anglo-saxon" press. The TV adaptations are evenIt's funny how Ferrante, considered average at best in Italy and France, is revered in the "anglo-saxon" press. The TV adaptations are even worse. It's so laughably clichéd for any European born before the 80's. I guess middle-class Americans need their fix for exotic settings, and quirky but always predictable story lines, a deep look in the abyss of a "tortured" relationship to excite the mind and....a simple and flat writing style. Full Review »
  2. Mar 22, 2022
    10
    Amazing characters, beautiful settings, intriguing stories. It's beautiful and full of life.
  3. Mar 15, 2022
    10
    Love how the book has come to life through this show. Season 3 is a treat. Fantastic.