HBO Max’s ‘The Girl Before’ Is A Two Timeline Thriller That Will Leave You Guessing Until The End

One thing a BBC-type series is going to do is slay me? I can’t even begin to tell you all the UK-based films and mini-series I stumbled on that were absolutely brilliant and entertaining from beginning to end. If you’re familiar with the genre then you know what I mean. The latest gem I watched is HBO Max’s The Girl Before. 

It’s a 4-episode thriller told through two separate timelines that connect slowly throughout the series and reaches a climactic end that I sure didn’t see coming until the final moments. David Oyelowo stars as Edward, a particular architect with a well sought-after home for rent, but he’s only interested in renting to a certain type of person who agrees to follow his very strict rules for maintaining the minimalistic appeal of the property.

Photo: HBO Max

Emma (Jessica Plummer) and Simon (Ben Hardy) are a couple that moves onto the property in one timeline and Jane (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) is a single woman in the other timeline who moves into the house three years later. Each woman is dealing with a level of trauma that leaves them vulnerable to manipulation, but the even bigger shock is how similar each girl is to the one before her who lived in the house. Will they all fall prey to the same fate?

The thing that immediately caught my attention with this show is the different timelines in the same house. It was very much giving the first season of Paramount+ Why Women Kill. It was clear something awful happened to the women who lived on Folgate Street but exactly what and who was to blame was to be deciphered. The added fact that it was a quick watch, 4 episodes about an hour each, made it easy to digest and didn’t drag the plot out. Each episode was packed with drama that kept the story moving and left you on edge trying to uncover the mystery of what happened to Emma and what could happen to Jane.

Photo: HBO Max

Scenes between David Oyelowo and Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Jessica Plummer and Oyelowo were equally entrancing to watch, but Jessica’s heightened and emotional delivery of her performance was the standout, and rightfully so given what her character was going through. While it may seem predictable I think this mini-series will have you on your toes and on edge. I highly recommend it.

The Girl Before is streaming now only on HBO Max.

Watch the official trailer for HBO Max’s The Girl Before in the clip below. Have you checked out this mini-series yet? Do you plan to after watching the trailer? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

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Photo: HBO Max