The Italian drama television miniseries, My Brilliant Friend, premiered on HBO on November 18, 2018. This is the first non-English language series to appear on this network. It is in Italian with English subtitles.

This miniseries is based on the best-selling novel of the same name written by Elena Ferrante. This book is the first of a series of four. The other three books are The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and Story of the Lost Child.

Season 1 concluded on December 10, 2018, and HBO confirmed that Season 2 is in the works. Season 2 will be based on the second book in the series, The Story of a New Name.

It was thought that it would be difficult to adapt this book to television. According to reviews, however, the miniseries remains faithful to the original novel, and the author was involved in the development of this series.

The main character of this story is Elena Greco, who is played by Margherita Mazzucco. The story begins with her as an elderly woman, who after hearing of her best friend’s disappearance from her son who is looking for her, begins to write the story of their friendship. Her best friend, Lila, is played by Gaia Girace.

The series flashes back to their old neighborhood in Naples after the Second World War. Young Elena is played by Elisa Del Genio, and Young Lila is played by Ludovica Nasti. The girls grew up very poor. The story chronicles their friendship as they struggle to find happiness in a world that is often unfair and cruel.

This miniseries has received very good reviews, and so far, each episode has received between 151,000 to 318,000 views in the U.S.

Will My Brilliant Friend come to Netflix?

My Brilliant Friend is an HBO series. HBO and Netflix have a long-standing rivalry. For this reason, this miniseries will not come to Netflix in the foreseeable future. The only place to watch My Brilliant Friend is on HBO, which has channels on Hulu and Amazon Prime as well as cable.

All four books of the series are available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions.

Although My Brilliant Friend will not be coming to Netflix, you may be interested in some of these shows which are on Netflix:

  • Julie & Julia – this is the 2009 film which chronicles a woman’s project of cooking all 524 recipes in Julia Child’s classic cookbook.
  • The Crown – this drama tells the story of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II starting when she was still a Princess. There are 2 seasons currently available with 10 episodes each. Season 3 is currently in production.
  • Narcos: Mexico – this is a series regarding the Mexican drug war in the 1980s. There is currently 1 season with 10 episodes.
  • Sophie and the Rising Sun – this is the 2016 movie regarding the appearance of a mysterious stranger in a small town in South Carolina.

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