The Girlfriend Experience

The show is delivered in a cold, unemotional manner that sets the tone. It seems similar to Mr. Robot and American Psycho in a lot of ways. People going through motions of life but mainly pretending. There is no intro for the show - the episodes start and eventually the title of the show displays on screen.

Christine is a law student and dresses in boring and mundane business attire, has basic professional hair, and seems pretty boring. You can tell she is intelligent however.

From the first sex scene we see the lead character's need and desire for control. Control of men, control of situations, and control of opportunity. What follows is the delving into the world of sex for hire, and beyond that a "Girlfriend" experience. Christine dives into this secretive world with both feet and develops an persona named "Chelsea". Chelsea is beautiful with long flowing hair, is feminine, attractive, well dressed, and poised; almost a counterpart to her day to day self. Her clients get to feel that they are important and cared for in her presence. For her it is an act. She is always on top; in the bedroom and in the relationship. She takes notes to remember small details of her clients, she edits her words and reactions to her client's wishes.

We see the main character position herself to always profit in some way in her interactions. In reality she is cold, distant, and calculating. How far will she go? How deep will she sink to get what she wants? What will the ultimate price be?

I've only seen 4 episodes of the season but it shows great promise. It may not live up to expectations in the end but I hope it does.

Very interesting series, well crafted, thought-provoking, both intriguing and depressing to watch... As I see it, it's very much about being obsessed about material wealth and the independence in having money and how that can be a very addictive substitute for real intimacy and trust in one's life. And it's about being addicted to different sorts of short-term pleasures, arising from as well as creating more loneliness. And it's about power, having control and protect oneself in an environment, where everyone are objects or means to an end for each other... The world of lawyers, corporates etc. And it's about a modern society, where basic human needs for connection, sharing our whole being including our sexuality, are capitalised... A society where friendship and love often are substituted by professional relations... The series main focus is on sexual relations and the sex business - but the same dynamics also applies to how therapists, coaches and other professionals can be substitutes, when there's a lack of trust in friends and family...

There are two things going on in this series: the story line and the acting of Riley Keough. The series is done in 13 half-hour episodes so there is little time for providing background or explanations. Rather, the intent and motivations of Christine/Chelsea/Amanda are expressed entirely in the body language, vocal tones, eyes and expressions of Ms. Keough. It's a complex character but by the end of the series I felt I understood this character as I have understood few others. Being previously unfamiliar with Ms. Keough, I was frankly stunned by her acting talent. In the later episodes, the story line transitions from the inner turmoil of the main character while living a dual life into her life entirely as a call girl. This gives Ms. Keough less to do in terms of portraying the multiple aspects of her character. The series suffers for this. Many viewers will focus on the sex scenes, some of which are probably too long if not unnecessary. This is a shame because it takes the focus away from the incredible job Ms. Keough does in realistically portraying a character trying to exist in two vastly different worlds while trying to prevent those worlds from colliding. With a less gifted actress, GFE would be a run of the mill drama. What sets this series apart is Ms. Keough's fascinating portrayal of a complex character. She makes it well worth watching and I look forward to her next project.

While many may hate this series for politically correct reasons or because they are not used to adult pacing (as opposed to juvenile comic book-style movies full of flashy editing), I was taken in by it ... but mostly because of Riley Keough, who is a very natural, subtle actress. The series features a little titillation here and there, but it's tasteful, artfully photographed, and looks great.

The show works in that -- even though the protagonist is a person of questionable moral values, she's surrounded by all these far more horrible, reptilian people (lawyers and other wretched/inhuman scum). So, by comparison, she comes off as the most empathetic person on the whole show; you end up bonding with her because you hate everyone else. (As Robert McKee often says: "Empathy ... is absolute, while sympathy is optional." Meaning empathy is enough ... to keep us engaged. We empathize with the main character, but we don't necessarily sympathize with her. )

I also like the protagonist's rebellious streak and admired her discipline and focus. As the actress herself said about the character: "she's driven." (Driven to a fault, actually.) There's also something terribly sad about her too. We can sense her loneliness as, obviously, she has no friends. In fact, there's an existential quality about the whole show, which is emphasized with the Cliff Martinez-like ambient music underscoring many scenes.

But this show is all about the actress, Riley Keough. Having said this, I didn't care for the final show of the season, which was a bit much (maybe a bad idea stretched out for the whole episode). I would love to see this show continue -- but only with same actress. I've already watched some episodes more than once, and I'm sure I'll watch the whole season again. It's worth owning.

Bottom line: Check it out. And kudos to Riley Keough for her sophisticated, subtle performance.

It's not going to be for everyone. Challenging viewing at times, probably easier to watch alone, as it pushes ones voyeuristic spectrum to the max. I hope that there is a little more story development in future seasons as if it was more of the same I'd probably be switching off but I enjoyed season 1. If you like the movie Shame it's very similar in terms of tone and pace. So it's now up to where they decide to take this.. is there going to be more point or is it just going to be a through the looking glass exercise. Let's see.