How does The Girlfriend’s ending differ from the book? Details explored

The Girlfriend is a psychological thriller series on Amazon Prime Video that premiered on September 10, 2025. Adapted from Michelle Frances’s bestselling novel, the series delves into themes of obsession, love, and betrayal.

One of the main characters is Cherry Laine, portrayed by Olivia Cooke. Cherry works in real estate and comes from a working-class background. She enters the life of Daniel Sanderson and his wealthy family, becoming the central figure in a tense and dramatic power struggle with Daniel’s protective mother, Laura.

In brief, the show’s ending diverges significantly from the book’s conclusion, particularly regarding who dies, Daniel’s role in the climax, and the final revelation. The series opts for a more ambiguous and visually dramatic finale, while the book provides a clear resolution with a definitive outcome.

More about The Girlfriend ending

The plot develops gradually in the novel by Michelle Frances, where the situations between Cherry and Laura are growing more tense due to jealousy, lies, and manipulations. Laura, with a high level of suspicion about the intentions of Cherry, goes to extremes to demonstrate that she is not as she appears.

This is the climax of the book as Laura pretends that Daniel had died to scare Cherry. This trick unleashes a violent fight between Laura and Cherry, whereby the latter finally falls to her demise. The novel finishes with Laura alive, Daniel knowing the truth, and the family attempting to continue on with their lives, with Cherry's manipulations known but brought to an end.

The series chooses another direction and reverses this fate. Rather than a tragic end for Cherry, it is Laura who faces a tragic end. Daniel, in the show, is misguidedly attempting to be separated from Cherry by being drugged by his mother. In a heated exchange between the two women, Daniel comes to the rescue in an attempt to save Cherry.

Being desperate and confused, he even, in his confusion, holds his mother underwater. This shift in the emotional focus of the finale is a dramatic transformation of the moral burden that the story carries, as it redirects the emphasis on the guilt of Daniel and the impact of his deeds.

One year later, it is presented that Cherry is pregnant and is married to Daniel, apparently triumphing. But Daniel finds a tape left by Laura, which cautions him about the real people, as Cherry is. Such spooky disclosure makes the audience wonder whether Cherry really reformed or whether it was Laura who was all along right. The show has a chilling feeling of uncertainty as compared to the book, which has a definite ending.

Cast of The Girlfriend

The Girlfriend brings the tense psychological drama to life through strong deliveries. Robin Wright is a rich and protective mother of Daniel, Laura Sanderson. The main part of The Girlfriend is propelled by the character of Laura, whose great mistrust of Cherry creates a series of events that go amok.

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Olivia Cooke stars as Cherry Laine, the girlfriend of Daniel, whose dark history and social goals cause her to be liked and distrusted by the viewer. Laurie Davidson plays the role of Daniel Sanderson, the sole son of Laura, who is caught between duty to his mother and his affection for Cherry, and ends up being devastated by the conflict that is going on between them.

Best friends are supported by Waleed Zuaiter in The Girlfriend, who plays Howard Sanderson, the husband of Laura and the father of Daniel, and sometimes shows up to provide a soothing touch to the pandemonium.

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