Conversations with Friends: a disappointing adaptation of Sally Rooney’s novel
Story follows a ‘love square’ between four millennials, who inhabit arty circles in Dublin

“Normal People was a lockdown TV hit that made stars of Daisy Edgar-Jones, Paul Mescal and neck chains,” said Ben Dowell in The Times. Now Sally Rooney’s first novel, Conversations with Friends, has been brought to the screen, with its story about a “love square” between four millennials, who inhabit arty circles in Dublin.
The book is dialogue heavy, but the TV adaptation is remarkably visual: emotions are conveyed via long silences and “snatched looks”, and whether you can hack all 12 episodes will depend “on your appetite for earnest and extremely slow drama”. For those “happy to hop aboard”, however, it carries “an addictive pull”.
I found this adaptation “dramatically superior” to Normal People, said Ed Power in The Irish Times – with one main reservation. Joe Alwyn, playing diffident actor Nick, speaks in a “wonky” accent that starts Irish, but ends up English, and his “lack of charisma” creates a void at the heart of the series that no amount of intelligent direction from Lenny Abrahamson can plug.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“Slow, solipsistic, and self-satisfied” as this show undeniably is, said Nick Hilton on The Independent, it does have an “ambient appeal”. This is TV designed to be watched “while scrolling through Instagram, peering in at strangers on two screens simultaneously”.
And if you’re not excited by the prospect of watching the lives of entitled millennials unravel “at a pace closer to Captain Tom than Mo Farah”, there are “plenty of close-ups of beautiful people kissing to keep you distracted”.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The Week contest: Flight fraud
Puzzles and Quizzes
-
Is Trump sidelining Congress' war powers?
Today's Big Question The Iran attack renews a long-running debate
-
6 productivity-ready homes with great offices
Feature Featuring an office with a gas fireplace in Oregon and a shared workspace with wraparound windows in Massachusetts
-
6 productivity-ready homes with great offices
Feature Featuring an office with a gas fireplace in Oregon and a shared workspace with wraparound windows in Massachusetts
-
Critics' choice: Carrying the flag
Feature The best barbecue in town, Bradley Cooper's cheesesteak restaurant, and more
-
Film review: Materialists
Feature Two suitors seek to win over a jaded matchmaker
-
Music reviews: Haim, Addison Rae, and Annahstasia
Feature "I Quit," "Addison," and "Tether"
-
Anne Hillerman's 6 favorite books with Native characters
Feature The author recommends works by Ramona Emerson, Craig Johnson, and more
-
Book reviews: '1861: The Lost Peace' and 'Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers'
Feature How America tried to avoid the Civil War and the link between lead pollution and serial killers
-
Brian Wilson: the troubled genius who powered the Beach Boys
Feature The musical giant passed away at 82
-
Grilled radicchio with caper and anchovy sauce recipe
The Week Recommends Smoky twist on classic Italian flavours is perfect to grill, drizzle and devour