5 Best Shows to Watch After “My Brilliant Friend” Series Ends

5 Best Shows to Watch After “My Brilliant Friend” Series Ends

It's hard to see a great series like HBO's My Brilliant Friend come to an end. Each season was a finale that said goodbye to Renoux and Laila's lives, which had developed a complicated friendship.

From its masterful direction, to its consistency with Elena Ferrante's book, to the beautifully drawn bonds of female friendship, HBO's adaptation was engrossing. Not surprisingly, it won numerous awards and will resonate with fans for years to come.

If you already miss Lenoux and Laila, I'd like to ease your sense of loss by pointing you to a few shows like “My Brilliant Friend” that might resonate with you.

If you like to see what happens in a lifetime, you'll want to watch “Olive Kitteridge. Based on a short story by Elizabeth Strout, Frances McDormand plays the main character and Richard Jenkins the husband. They live in a quaint New England town, but “quaint” is only on the surface. It is a town full of secrets and deceit, and the series of events that unfold there are told from the perspective of the witty and troubled Olive.

Fans of Frances McDormand will love her in this series, and Richard Jenkins complements her character perfectly. The series has won a number of Emmy awards, and although it is not a long series at four episodes, it is a perfect binge-watch sequel to My Brilliant Friend.

Watch on Max

Another miniseries to add to the list of follow-up shows like “My Brilliant Friend” is “Normal People.” It follows Marianne (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Connell (Paul Mescall) growing up in Ireland. They move in and out of each other's lives platonically and romantically. For a while, Connell is the popular one and Marianne is the outcast, but their roles are reversed when they enter college.

These characters will feel as real as the people in your own life. In addition, the chemistry between the actors who play Marianne and Connell plays off the screen, making the romance between the two of them so exciting that you will wish they would get together. Like the rest of the list, this adaptation is faithful to the original story by Sally Rooney.

Watch on Hulu

For a more complex female friendship relationship, Big Little Lies. Based on Liane Moriarty's original novel, the show explores female relationships, but focuses on complex power struggles amidst deadly deception. Reese Witherspoon serves as executive producer, along with big-name actresses Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep (Season 2), and Zoe Kravitz. One of the show's biggest draws is the amazing cinematography, as seen in My Brilliant Friend, and being an HBO show, the production costs are obviously high, as the show is also a HBO show.

But above all, more than the setting and the quality of the filmmaking, one can expect a strong plot with plenty of the complexities found in female friendships. Season 1 surprised everyone and led to an unexpected Season 2. Watch the first two seasons now to prepare for Season 3 (yes, it's starting).

Watch on Max

If seeing the differences between the haves and have-nots appeals to you, check out White Lotus. Unlike “My Brilliant Friend,” which depicted the harsh reality of class differences, “White Lotus” is viewed from a more satirical lens. Both seasons of White Lotus begin with a murder, but it is more of a character study than a murder mystery.

The show's standout is Tanya McQuaid-Hunt, played by Jennifer Coolidge, who is truly delightful in her characteristic sassiness. In addition to the beautiful setting of Hawaii for the first season and Sicily for the second, the series makes you feel like you are on vacation.

Watch on Max

This is another series set in Ireland, adapted from a Sally Rooney novel. Conversations with Friends” delves into the complications that ensue when two college friends become embroiled in a marital relationship. Frances (Allison Oliver) and Bobby (Sasha Lane) meet actor Nick (Joe Alwyn) and his writer wife Melissa (Jemima Kirk) at a bar; the two couples become friends, but Frances soon finds herself in a relationship with Nick.

Viewers' reactions to Frances are mixed, finding her character both compelling and frustrating with regard to the decisions she makes. Overall, what the series does so well is show the entanglements that love and friendship can bring. It portrays a messy life and how easily people can make things worse.

Rent on Apple TV Plus

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