Pop Culturing: HBO's Adaptation of 'My Brilliant Friend' is Intense, Rich & Painful

Adapting novels into TV shows or movies is nothing new. Hollywood has been doing that for decades – it's a proven formula that shows when a beloved book is transformed to the screen it can be a massive success. HBO alone has built its empire on source material, namely the novels "Game of Thrones" and more recently "Big Little Lies."

It's likely the network has another hit on its hands with "My Brilliant Friend," based on the incredibly popular Neapolitan book series by Elena Ferrante. The show may not have dragons or A-list celebs but makes up for that by channeling what the novels do so well. It packs a powerful and emotional punch and, for better or for worse, transports you to a small working-class town in 50s Italy.

The first season of "My Brilliant Series," which debuts Sunday on HBO, follows the epic friendship of two young girls Elena Greco, a.k.a. Len� (Elisa Del Genio plays her as a girl and Margherita Mazzucco as a teen), and Rafaella Cerullo, a.k.a. Lila (Ludovica Nasti as a girl and Gaia Girace as a teen). They're both exceptionally intelligent girls drowning in a town who don't know how to handle their gifts. Their parents would rather put them to work than further their education and nurture their gifts. On top of unsupportive family life, the girls witness violence on almost a daily basis. The two watch as their community destroys itself from the inside out; mostly by men. The men in this drab town outside of Naples physically assault each other and even kill each other over petty squabbles. The women, too, get into fights and scream obscenities at each other, imprinting toxic behavior on the impressionable children who watch them.

We watch as the girls grow from elementary school students to teens. As they age and become aware of the painful world around them, we watch as their friendship blooms and diverges. In one episode, Len� and Lila are reading "Little Women" together until the book falls apart. Years later, the duo are in competition with each other while Len� continues schooling (much to her mother's chagrin) and Lila is forced to work in her father's shoe shop. Nevertheless, despite receiving formal education, Lila consumes every book she can get her hands on, learning Latin and Greek by herself and surpassing Lila.

"My Brilliant Friend" is a faithful adaptation of Ferrante's novels. A co-production between HBO and Italy's RAI and TMIVision, the limited series is a rich and painful story brought to life by director Saverio Costanzo, who helms all eight episodes. He also co-writes, alongside Francesco Piccolo and Laura Paolucci, bringing the girls to life. It sticks to the book's framing device, using voiceover from a much older Len�, who begins writing this story when she gets a call from Lila's son that she is missing. The voice over can be annoying when it feels like Ferrante's prose is literally cut and pasted into the show.

Despite its lavish production, "My Brilliant Friend" feels small, contained and modest. Most of the first season is set in the small town, which feels incredibly claustrophobic. It's a relief any time the characters get to venture outside the town. The show's slow pacing is frustrating and nearly every scene is full of intense dread – as if any moment someone could snap and cause harm to the two young protagonists. Even in the show's happier moments – specifically a New Year's celebration – the fear of something truly awful happening is always in the back of the viewer's mind.

That may be part of the experience of watching the devastatingly sad "My Brilliant Friend," but a show too drenched in despair (not to mention one with a 56-minute runtime that is in no rush to get to where it's going) is a hard hang. But those who have consumed the books will surely be devout to the series. The show is also exceptional at weaving its themes into its narrative – class and money, or lack there of, play important parts in the story of the two girls. Getting their hands on a book is revolutionary. Convincing parents to enroll them into school is as challenging as climbing Mount Everest. Both girls come from a working class family and often bump up against the children around them whose families became rich off the fascist-era black market. In the back half of the season, Len� and Lila are still impressionable teens but it feels like a revolution is bubbling.

Who knows how audiences who haven't read or heard of the books will receive "My Brilliant Friend." It's doesn't pander to American viewers – the show is in Italian and is subtitled; an unfortunate turn off for many. Though it's not a homerun, there's something hypnotic about the show. If you invest time into Len� and Lila's friendship, there will be a rich payoff in the episodes to come.

This story is part of our special report: "Pop Culturing". Want to read more? Here's the full list.