The Rooneyverse is back! The new TV series, Conversations with Friends, based on Sally Rooney’s first novel, drops today on Amazon Prime, providing all the feels we’ve been missing since Normal People came and went in 2020.
This time, the story follows college students Frances and Bobbi (Alison Oliver and Sasha Lane), two best friends who used to date, but now share a deeply intertwined platonic friendship.
While performing poetry together, the pair meet and befriend writer Melissa (Jemima Kirke), and eventually her husband Nick (Joe Alwyn), an actor.
Frances, who is bisexual, finds herself caught up in a mutual attraction with Nick, and Bobbi, who is confident and provocative, shares a flirtation with Melissa.
And because it wouldn’t be a Sally Rooney story without long, lustful stares, and wistful train rides through the countryside, things obviously get complicated for the two sets of pairs.
How is Conversations With Friends like Normal People?
Spoilers begin about here, so be wary going forward if you haven’t watched the series yet.
There are a lot of similarities between the two novels, and naturally, the two series as well. They’re both coming-of-age tales that follow English literature students living in Ireland, who are discovering the complications of sex and relationships.
But while our central desire, and the main driver of conflict, in Normal People was Marianne and Connell’s inability to communicate, Conversations With Friends explores the moral issue of extramarital affairs.
While Frances and Nick are equally awful at communicating as Marianne and Connell, our desire for them to ‘get it together’ is more fraught with existential questioning, as is normal in Rooney’s work.
But we’re here to talk about Conversations With Friends‘ sex scenes…
Fans of the Rooneyverse expected the series would be steamy, and they won’t be disappointed. Just because we’re not rooting for Frances and Nick, it doesn’t mean the chemistry between Alwyn and Oliver isn’t palpable.
The two share their first steamy kiss in episode two at Melissa’s birthday party, and by the next episode, they’re fully entwined in their affair.
While it’s completely hot and fun to watch, there are moments within the sex scenes that mirror those from Normal People, which we’re stoked to see.
The first time Nick and Frances have sex, the production seems to put deliberate focus on her pleasure, as well as Nick’s.
We also see Nick checking in with her for consistent consent, a directorial choice that was praised in Normal People, too.
READ NEXT: Pleasure guaranteed! These are the cult sex toys Aussie women can’t get enough of
While we’re not too sure if fans will adore Conversations With Friends with the same fervour that they did Normal People, the series continues to get a lot of things right.
Aside from the sex, the series is mostly frustrating because it is so good at capturing the difficulty of communicating emotion in dialogue.
So, clear your schedule and make sure you binge this one all in one go.
You can stream all episodes of Conversations With Friends now on Amazon Prime, live and on demand with a 30 day FREE trial. START FREE TRIAL.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
