Conversations with Friends Review: Masterful Acting Over Messy Relationships (Season 1 Episodes 1-6)

Conversations with Friends sparks a lot of conversation.

Hulu’s long-awaited adaptation of Sally Rooney’s hit novel explores the dynamics of friendship and love, intertwining the lives of two young students, best friends Bobbi and Frances, with the private life of a married couple, Nick and Melissa.

Watching the twelve-part series feels like reading a novel. It’s difficult to look away for fear of missing any subtle details. During these first six episodes, I find myself rewinding scenes to catch every word and moment from the actors even though it moves a bit slowly.

The detail in Conversations with Friends draws you in and gets you thinking. It’s a character study, fascinating and flawed people involved in each other’s lives. It makes us want to understand their actions and thoughts.

Nothing is black and white, even when it appears to be.

At the start of Conversations with Friends, the friendships and pairings are defined and understandable. We have Frances, the main protagonist, played by Alison Oliver, who dominates the show’s narrative, and her best friend Bobbi, played by Sasha Lane.

We learn through conversations, appropriately so, that Bobbi essentially chose Frances when she arrived at their high school as the new American student.

The two dated and broke up yet remained close friends. Shy and introverted Frances leans on outgoing Bobbi to carry her through social scenarios. At the same time, Bobbi appears to use Frances as a friend to back her up as a sidekick and agree with her argumentative takes in social situations.

Then there’s Nick and Melissa. The married couple appears stable and admirable. We infer that Nick, played by Joe Alwyn, is younger than Melissa (Jemima Kirke), a successful writer who we also assume is the primary breadwinner of the pair.  

Frances (Text to Bobbi): Have you seen her (Melissa) trophy husband?

On Conversations with Friends Season 1 Episode 1, the two pairings first come together at a dinner hosted by Melissa. Here, we see the complicated dynamics between friends where the relationships express deeper layers and cracks.

Bobbi seems almost too comfortable, evenly matched in conversation with Melissa. I find Bobbi extremely annoying, as I did when I read the book. She’s constantly trying to out-stage France and demonstrates this superiority attitude that marks toxic friendships.

It’s difficult to watch Bobbi intently blurt out personal information about Frances in front of their new friends. Frances repetitively expresses her annoyance over this with a sarcastic “Thanks, Bobbi” statement.

Melissa is warm and friendly yet makes poignant comments on par with Bobbi about her husband and her life.

There’s automatically an awkwardness coming from Nick and Frances separately at the dinner. Neither appear comfortable in social situations and seem to have difficulties voicing their thoughts when Melissa and Bobbi dominate the conversation.

One of Rooney’s most admirable writing tendencies is that she frequently explores the insecurities of male characters where readers don’t expect them. Both Nick and Connell from Normal People are well-liked, popular, handsome men who battle self-confidence and struggle to express their emotions.

It’s refreshing to see a divergence from the usual confident pretty boy love interest archetypes that dominate most romance novels.

The dinner and Melissa’s birthday party on Conversations with Friends Season 1 Episode 2 serve as catalysts for imploding the linear pairs between characters in the show. Naturally, the introverts are drawn to each because they understand each other, constantly outplayed and overshadowed by performative talkers like Melissa and Bobbi.

Frances: Nobody knows what happens between two people when they’re alone, Bobbi. 

Once the affair begins, trust diminishes between the two pairs of characters –Bobbi and Frances, and Melissa and Nick. The affair itself, characteristic of the Rooneyverse, is intriguingly awkward, a steamy affair between two awkward and insecure people.

For that reason and Frances’ blind innocence, it’s hard to route against the affair, creating a grey zone of morals.

Frances can’t expose the truth to anyone. She cannot tell Bobbi about the affair. As we see as outsiders, it’s due to Bobbi’s constant overbearing judgments and control of Frances as the toxic best friend. Frances is scared to expose and discuss a part of her that Bobbi isn’t directly a part of for fear of backlash from Bobbi’s control. 

She also can’t talk about her medical issues to Nick, the only person who seems to correctly understand Frances, proving that trust and honesty are lacking in an affair and hinders the possibility of any of these relationships being left unscathed.

Director Lenny Abrahamson and the cast do an excellent job encapsulating the brewing tension during the vacation against the beautiful and tranquil background of a Croatian island on Episode 4 and 5.  

The secrets and lack of trust inhabit the relationships to feel normal. Bobbi feels constantly annoyed at Frances, yet Frances internalizes her thoughts instead of confessing to Bobbi, which Oliver remarkably acts.

It is masterful, the way Oliver acts out Frances’ insecurities on the trip, using body language to show her desire towards Nick and hesitancy towards anyone else for fear of exposure.  

The trip serves as a turning point, marked by Bobbi walking in on Frances and Nick. While inevitable, Bobbi’s possessive nature over Frances becomes strongly highlighted. She believes that nothing is private between her and Frances’ friendship, and it’s difficult to watch her just barge into Frances’ room without even a knock.

All the characters somehow find themselves in the wrong, flaws showing as Bobbi learns Frances’ hidden truth. The conversations turn complicated, setting up a difficult and what promises to be an emotionally charged second half of the series.  

Conversations with Friends has gripped me through the first six episodes, adapted perfectly and on pace with the book. It’s a character study of what friendship and loves means, a slow-burning plot, yet one that exposes all to us onscreen.

Other Observations:

• Especially noticeable in Croatia, the cinematography’s grainy light filter compliments the vacation’s brewing tension and overlying awkwardness. 
• The characters are always drinking white wine. The motif of a reoccurring alcoholic drink perhaps symbolizes Frances and Bobbi’s place in the world of adults, contrary to a student’s life of beer and cheap vodka. 
• Paul Mescal of Normal People fame makes a brief appearance as a Trinity student walking past the camera in Episode 1.

What did you think of Conversations with FriendsSeason 1 Episodes 1-6? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Conversations with Friends is currently streaming on Hulu.

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