Chris Connor reviews Conversations with Friends…
Normal People became an absolute sensation during the first lockdown in 2020 with audiences finding comfort in the complex relationship between Marianne and Connell with star making turns from Daisy-Edgar Jones and Paul Mescal. Just over two years later and BBC Three/Hulu have belatedly followed this smash hit with a twelve-part adaptation of Sally Rooney’s 2017 debut novel Conversations With Friends which made her one of the most recognisable names in contemporary literature and being labelled the Salinger of her generation. The series sees many of the creative voices behind Normal People returning including director Lenny Abrahamson (Room, Frank) and writer Alice Birch (Succession, Lady Macbeth); the most obvious talent not returning is Rooney herself and perhaps that might be one of the reasons the overall reception has been far cooler than that for Normal People.
The series focuses on Frances and Bobbi – played by newcomer Alison Oliver and Sasha Lane (American Honey, Loki) respectively – a pair of final year Trinity College students and ex-girlfriends who perform spoken word poetry as a pair. At one of their performances they meet successful writer Melissa Conway (Jemima Kirke) and are eventually introduced to her husband, jobbing actor Nick (Joe Alwyn). There the story takes a departure from the more intimate story of Normal People as Frances and Nick begin a passionate affair they struggle to keep secret, especially while on a sizable group holiday to Croatia.
As with its predecessor, the performances are for the most part electric particularly Alison Oliver as Frances who often feels reserved and cut off from the outside world before opening up in the company of Nick. For a role that is often silent Oliver impresses immensely in her screen debut and it wouldn’t be a surprise if the series offered a platform for her to greater things. The novel of Conversations With Friends is perhaps the more difficult of the two to adapt dealing with grander subjects such as maternity, monogamy and mental health, the performances perhaps have to capture more range and nuance than those in Normal People although that is not to discredit the tremendous work of Edgar- Jones and Mescal.
Sasha Lane and Jemima Kirke are also strong elements, although perhaps surprisingly more background presences for much of proceedings with the focus prominently on Frances and other characters coming and going. Lane makes Bobbi a force of nature, unpredictable and explosive but clearly capable of compassion and tenderness, perhaps best explored through her relationship with Frances and budding friendship with Melissa. Kirke is a marvel as Melissa at once both ice cold and inviting, leaving the audience guessing. She proves a captivating presence on screen and it is a shame she isn’t utilised more in what is perhaps the smallest role of the main cast. Joe Alwyn has come in for more criticism than his co-stars and while his Irish accent certainly isn’t the finest put to screen he captures the physical intimacy needed with Oliver well although perhaps he is too reserved as Nick, seeming shy and awkward at times.
Many of the elements that made Normal People such a stellar series are replicated here from the cinematography and direction of Abrahamson and Leanne Welham who split the adaptation with each directing six episodes. The music is again a highlight with a selection of eclectic needle drops that help reflect the personality of the four main protagonists and that clearly show the difference between our characters and Marianne and Connell. Perhaps one of the main differences is Normal People felt it earned its twelve episode length, whereas this series perhaps drags on too long and with the focus being so heavily on Frances it is a stretch at times even with the strength of the lead performances. With the topics being denser than Normal People perhaps some of the communication barriers and depth of the novel have been lost in the adaption.
While not quite the runaway success of Normal People, Conversations With Friends should perhaps be judged on its own merit and not as a copy of what’s come before. The technical elements, direction and tone of Normal People are present with the performances more layered and focus on different points in life than those experienced with Marianne and Connell. Ultimately it may struggle to keep viewers engaged to quite the same degree across its twelve episodes and may have bitten off more than it can chew in trying to keep the series stylistically paired but this is still a series Sally Rooney fans will likely come to savour. If this proves a success, it seems inevitable that her most recent novel Beautiful World, Where Are You? will get the small screen treatment.
Chris Connor
