The new Hulu thriller “The Other Black Girl” mixes suspense and satire for a sharp dig at the publishing industry.
Premiering Wednesday, Sept. 13 and based on the best-selling novel by Zakiya Dalila Harris, “The Other Black Girl,” is executive produced by Rashida Jones. The plot follows Nella (Sinclair Daniel), an editorial assistant who works at the fictional Manhattan publishing house, Wagner Books.
She’s the only black employee, and she regularly deals with her white colleagues coming up to her, sharing articles about being black in the workplace and saying things like, “I’m always looking for a better way to be an ally to you. That piece got me so fired up, you should read it and share if it resonates!”
Her icy boss, Vera (Bellamy Young) praises her work, but also dismisses her concerns about a star author’s manuscript portraying a black character in a stereotypical way.
Nella is relieved when Hazel (Ashleigh Murray, “Riverdale”) is hired as a new editorial assistant, since she is now thankfully no longer the only black employee.
The two women become fast friends, bonding over similar tastes in books and similar worldviews. Nella is happy that she thinks this signifies that Wagner moving in the right direction. “The system is changing, we’re changing it,” she says to Hazel.
But soon, it turns out that all is not well.
As Hazel’s star begins to rise, it seems like she may not be a new friend to Nella, and may have a hidden agenda.
Nella also uncovers sinister secrets at the company, like the mystery of what happened to Kendra Rae Phillip, the only other black editor at Wagner who worked there in the ‘80s.
“The Other Black Girl” is a winning mix of suspense and satire.
The show sometimes dips into horror territory – such as a sequence when the lights over Nella’s desk flicker, and her computer screen goes dark before suddenly showing surveillance footage of herself.
The opening scene of the first episode follows Kendra (Cassi Maddox) in the ‘80s, as she flees the company and has an unnerving experience on the subway, setting the tone for the enigma of what happened.
But the show also lampoons the publishing industry, and various big personalities including authors and editors — such as when the boorish hotshot author Colin (Brian Baumgartner, “The Office”) visits the office and obnoxiously proclaims, “Daddy’s home!”
Episodes are a tight 30 minutes, so “The Other Black Girl” is well-paced and doesn’t needlessly drag out the plot (the way that some hour-long thrillers tend to do).
The supporting cast is rounded out by heavy hitters: in addition to Baumgartner, there’s Eric McCormack as the editor-in-chief, and Hunter Parrish (“Weeds”) plays Nella’s boyfriend, Owen.
As the show’s title implies, it focuses on race in the predominantly white world of publishing, but it approaches the topic with a light hand. It never feels preachy, since it mixes its social commentary with a thriller plot, infused with humor.
“The Other Black Girl” is an engrossing genre-bending thriller. People who work in publishing should eat it up, but it’s also not too “inside baseball” for general audiences, too.
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