- Network: HBO Max
- Series Premiere Date: Feb 10, 2022
Critic Reviews
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Despite some of its more predictable twists, The Girl Before is riveting, even counterintuitive. Brühlmann, the director, takes material stuffed with clichés and gives it a subtler texture.
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Most viewers will be immediately engrossed. ... The house holds secrets that even this reviewer, a hardened veteran of gloomy gothic mysteries that move at their own pace, didn't see coming. But in addition to the rather glacial progression of Mr. Delaney's adaptation, there's the eternal fascination of real estate and the haunting question of just what one might do to get her mitts on affordable housing.
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It felt fresh, the dialogue wasn't toe-curling and the performances have drawn me in.
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It is tricky to balance heightened mystery with such weighty subject matter but so far, The Girl Before is an intriguing premise, clinically executed.
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No matter how similar two characters look, they are written and performed well enough that they remain (mostly) distinct from one another, and are afforded agency in their own narratives while being lavished with impressively stylish direction.
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“The Girl Before” doesn’t feel like a conventional mystery and that is its strength. It feels akin to a staged performance, with the character predominately relegated to One Folgate Street. Mbatha-Raw and Plummer are powerhouses in a story that sticks with you because it’s a slice of reality.