The Other Black Girl Review: A show developed by Zakiya Dalila Harris and Rashida Jones based on the 2021 book of the same name by the former. The music in the series is by EmmoLei Sankofa. It is produced by Temple Hill Entertainment, Le Train Train Productions, tetraVision and Onyx Collective.
The cast for The Other Black Girl features Sinclair Daniel as Nella Rogers and Ashleigh Murray as Hazel-May McCall, who are essentially the main leads in the story that unfolds. We have Brittany Adebumola as Malaika, Hunter Parrish as Owen, Bellamy Young as Vera Parini and Eric McCormack as Richard Wagner in the main cast. Recurring cast members for the show include Garcelle Beauvais as Diana Gordon, Brian Baumgartner as Colin Franklin, Alyshia Ochse as Maisy Glendower, Kate Owens as Sophie, and Langston Kerman as Jesse Watson amongst others.
There are ten episodes in the series. The approximate runtime for each episode is 30 to 40 minutes. Directors and writers in involved in the making of the series are Mariama Diallo, Todd Biermann, Jordan Reddout, Gus Hickey, Nefertite Nguvu, Kara Brown, Caroline Williams, Naima Ramos-Chapman, Angela Nissel, Aurora Guerrero and Janelle Spence alongside writer-developer Zakiya Dalila Harris.
– Hulu’s The Other Black Girl Review Does Not Contain Spoilers –
The Other Black Girl Review
It is always an odd choice to convert a book into a movie or a series. It strikes me as odd because why would you and how can you possibly fit the world you have created over 300 pages and more in a series that will only have the capacity to recreate the entire thing within a couple of hours, keeping all the book-to-screen adaptions with sequels and follow-up seasons aside.
Nonetheless, every time the writer is involved in the making of the media adaptation, it eases things a little. A very good example would be Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies being so remarkable and Game of Thrones falling apart during its final season. Objectively speaking, having Zakiya Dalila Harris on the developer’s chair really helped. At the same time, the show has its own misses with the stunning hits that it delivers.
The Other Black Girl opens with an intense scene, a climax that we will later track back to. It holds our interest with its first shot and that says something. It is the year 1988, and a young Black woman is running towards the subway from her office. This young woman is Kendra Rae Philips- the first Black female editor at Wagner Books, a publishing house. What happens to Philips is left to our imagination for the longest time; her fate is undetermined.
Meanwhile, we move forward. The next segment brings us to the present- it is 2023 and another young Black woman is on the same route, to the same office. Her name is Nella. In fact, she even sees Philips’ portrait hung at the office and feels empowered to be the only Black woman (like the woman on the wall) to be working in an office dominated by the white population.
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But, there is the twist of ‘the other black girl’ in the office. Hazel is the new Black young woman in the office, who is also hired as an editorial assistant, much like Nella. In her years of being at Wagner’s, Hazel is only the second female person of colour she has seen in the office after herself. Thus, it is no surprise that Nella and Hazel soon become almost best-buds, almost.
The competition in the office is real and Nella soon figures that Hazel is in for the game. But as she gets hold of the dynamics with her new work frenemy, many other things start to catch her eye- the reflection of other women, a feeling of having a stalker, a suspicious note and more. All of these tie her up to Wagner and send her down the rabbit’s hold of the mystery and suspense of the office she is working in.
Both Sinclair Daniel and Ashleigh Murray hold the series together with a single bone- one has a character that needs will whereas the other plays with the layers in hers and they both stand out beautifully in this one. The mystery element built in the show hangs around in the air like a sweet feeling but, the horror domination loses its point and sidetracks the narrative a lot of times.
The Other Black Girl: Final Verdict
Overall, The Other Black Girl is an entertaining watch but, is it worth a binge-worthy session? Probably not. Shows like these are for pauses and don’t actually create the moment we are in, which is sad given the amazing performance put in by the cast. With that being said, satire is a dish best served with mystery and horror and this series rightly does that.
You can now watch all the episodes of The Other Black Girl streaming now on Hulu.