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‘Friends Like Her’ – Review

‘Friends Like Her’ – Review

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The New Zealand screen industry is known for producing sensational local talent. Now, the shocking psycho-drama Friends Like Her has arrived in what can only be described as a New Zealand television experience unlike anything you’ve seen before. This story of frayed relationships and a friendship turned sour will have you hooked right from the start.

A surrogacy deal goes wrong when Nicole (Morgana O’Reilly) changes her mind about giving best friend Tessa (Tess Haubrich) the baby she is carrying for her. The ensuing emotional rift splits the small town of Kaikōura – already torn apart from an earthquake.

Developed by feature writer and novelist Sarah-Kate Lynch, Friends Like Her is without a doubt the most addictive and shocking New Zealand set television series to arrive on screen in some time, and this complicated and multi-faceted psycho-drama of a friendship turned wrong will have you hooked from the very start. With a narrative that builds from ‘a surrogacy that is used to make a friend suffer’, Sarah-Kate Lynch builds out a drama that explores a bitter family rivalry, and you can’t see the next twist coming. Primarily following the story of best friends Nicole (Morgana O’Reilly) and Tessa (Tess Haubrich), whose love for each other falls through a dramatic way, Friends Like Her is a thoroughly addictive watch and its bitter tension will have you on the edge of your seat.

Series stars Morgana O’Reilly and Tess Haubrich are brilliantly cast Nicole and Tessa, two ‘besties’ who share a passionate love for life when first introduced. However, actions and their consequences, both in the present and past, are quickly brought up, and it soon becomes very clear that something is incredibly wrong with this friendship. And things get dark quickly. O’Reilly’s Nicole is a dotting mum of three and a genuinely nice girl who seems to be there for everyone, but it soon becomes clear that she carries major jealousies for the extravagant, glamorous and carefree life that Tessa lives. On the flip side of this relationship is Tess Haubrich’s Tessa, a slightly reformed party girl who loves a bit of the good life and who is very happy to flaunt her and her husband Rob’s (Vinnie Bennett) success, to the detriment and disdain of all those around her. But Tessa is not as confident as she outwardly appears, and she has a deep hole in her heart. She cannot bear children and is desperate for a family like her friend Nicole.

What audiences are given is a picture of two central characters who appear one way but whose choices and the consequences that follow are not in keeping with their outward-facing selves. And all of it leads to plenty of devastating drama. Friends Like Her is a series of grand conflicts in which the central narrative keeps changing and shifting in the most frayed and corrosive way. The story’s central theme of ‘a surrogacy to hurt a friend’ leads to multiple plot points and character shifts in the series’ early episodes, and each episode ends on a showstopper of a cliffhanger that will only bait fans for more drama, and you won’t be able to see what comes next.

Friends Like Her is a gripping, fresh and radically new style of narrative-led television experience for New Zealand storytelling, and its gripping story of a battle between two women for the most cherished human experience will leave audiences flawed! Friends Like Her is simply essential viewing in every possible way.

Stream Friends Like Her on ThreeNOW.

Image: ThreeNOW