HBO’s My Brilliant Friend adaptation: reviews and recaps

Elena Ferrante’s best-selling Neapolitan Novels form the basis for HBO’s new series My Brilliant Friend. Each of the four books will be adapted into an eight-episode season of the show.

For its first season at least, My Brilliant Friend is the story of two girls growing up in a lower-class neighborhood somewhere in the Naples area. (And, yes, the whole thing is in Italian with English subtitles — but would you want this story told in English?)

In his review of the adaption, Vox critic at large Todd VanDerWerff called it “a knockout” and a “triumph of world-building” that has something for all viewers, whether or not they’ve read the source books.

My Brilliant Friend debuted on Sunday, November 18 on HBO, then aired a second episode Monday, November 19, at 9 pm Eastern. It will continue to air two episodes a week — one on Sundays and one on Mondays — through Monday, December 10. The series will also be available on HBO’s streaming platforms.