It’s the new series of the moment: Conversations with Friends, Sally Rooney’s first novel, has been adapted into a series, making its French debut on Canal+. A highly-anticipated program, all the more so as this is the second TV adaptation of the Irishwoman’s works… after the series Normal People, which was a worldwide success!
If you enjoyed the Normal People series, we can’t recommend “Conversations with Friends” enough. The story unfolds over 12 30-minute episodes, broadcast on Canal + since August 25.
And the program has everything it takes to find its audience. From the same director as Normal People, Lenny Abrahamson, the story centers on two Dublin students, Frances and Bobbi, former lovers turned friends.
They meet an older married couple: Melissa and Nick. The foursome form a deeply complex, toxic and unusual relationship, in which Frances becomes passionately involved in adultery with husband Nick… all under the watchful eye of her best friend…
Conversations with Friends
A passionate, Cornelian story that describes a strong, powerful love affair. The whole is interwoven with reflections on today’s new generations, their sensibilities, the social pressure that crushes them, the feminist struggle, as well as their difficulties in communicating their feelings, in an age of technological hyper-communication, What’s App and social networks. A series about polyamory, the quest for self, absolutes and self-understanding.
The series stars Cork-born Alison Oliver as Frances. Sasha Lane plays Bobbi, Joe Alwyn Nick and Jemima Kirke (Girls) Melissa.
A fine cast, promising an intimate series, full of finesse and reflections on today’s society.
Once again, Conversations with Friends is filmed in Ireland, and more specifically in Dublin. Trinity College is, of course, in the spotlight (as in Normal People). It’s a choice made by Sally Rooney, the writer having studied there in the past, when she was doing a Master’s degree in American literature.
Images of the university are omnipresent: the Berkeley library, Trinity College’s grand classical facades, its bell tower, and its large squares where students from all over the world stroll.
But that’s not all: Frances’ apartment is located in the center of Dublin, on Hardwicke Street. We then discover the surrounding microcosm: the streets of the city, including the famous Temple Bar district, with its entertainment, restaurants and local Irish pubs…
You can also discover Dublin’s surroundings on a swim at Seapoint.
It’s worth noting that Belfast was also used as a filming location for the series… allowing us to simulate other parts of Dublin. Stranmillis College and Campbell College can be guessed to represent corners of Trinity College.
Other iconic locations are also recognizable, such as the famous No Alibis bookshop on Botanic Avenue… and many more!
If you too would like to discover Sally Rooney’s fantastic universe, don’t wait any longer: Conversations with Friends is a new nugget which, although certainly less powerful than Normal People, should easily find its audience!
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