The Girlfriend Experience on STARZ

Riley Keough stars as Christine Reade, a young law student intern, who finds out a friend of hers is doing escort work on the side. Christine is not shocked and likes sex so when her friend asks her to join in on a double date, Christine says yes. As it is not easy to make ends meet as a law student, Christine also joins the Girlfriend Experience dating game, but finds soon that this life is more demanding than she expected.

The Girlfriend Experience refers to a type of escort girl that engages in more than just the sex with the client. She pretends to be a real girl friend and listens to the day in, day out worries of her client, empathizing with her clients. This is a good deal more time consuming than just the sex thing and so it is also considered a high end escort service, meaning it is very expensive. (Somewhere in the show it is mentioned that this rates thousands of dollars per hour.)

 

When Christine comes to a moment in her life that her GFE career impacts with her law studies and intern work, Christine needs to make a critical decision that will shape the rest of her life. It is at this moment that she decides to take a leading position in her own life, with all the consequences to follow. The Girlfriend Experience is a fascinating show, that will hook you after a few episodes and Riley Keough is a wonderful actress.

Riley  Keough started as a model and was earlier to be seen in MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, as one of the girls in the background during that spectacular race, but in this show, she is amazing. Keough shows Christine as a real human being but also one who is flawed, imperfect. Keough brings a wonderful determination to that side of the part.

The series was created, written and directed by Lodge Kerrigan and Amy Seimetz and has 13 episodes in this first season. You can see the show on STARZ but by now the first season will also have appeared on DVD or Blu Ray.

 The film was based on Steven Soderberghs film The Girlfriend Experience of 2009, but this film is not a dramative narrative. It just shows a few days in the life of a GFE Escort Girl, played by Sasha Grey (who is also known as an Adult Actress, from the porn world). This STARZ show is however an original dramatic story, with good acting, interesting characters and a compelling lead character.

The Girlfriend Experience is a 13 episode dramatic show that tells one concluding story but I would welcome more. It has not yet been disclosed if a second season will follow, but with Riley Keough in the same part, I would certainly keep watching !!