We all know that teenage years can be rough, and rougher still if you get in a car accident, languish in a coma for a week, and wake up thinking your mom has been replaced with an imposter and no one believes you.
That’s exactly the mind-bending mystery that is Hulu’s new coming-of-age comedy-mystery series Phony. Filled with paranoia, unexpected twists, and just enough humor to keep its objectively horrifying premise lighthearted, it will keep you questioning what’s real and what isn’t.
The series premiered on Hulu on October 20th, dropping the first two episodes, and subsequent episodes air weekly on Tuesdays.
What is Phony About?
Created by Nick Paley, Phony touches on the relationship between a mother and son, the ordeal of being a teenage boy, and the terror of being stuck in a conspiracy you know nothing about.
Set in the always spooky Pacific Northwest, the story centers around Sonny Cooke, a High School student and only son of Ellen Cooke, a single mother and High School Principal. The two are extremely close, even having their own special three-squeeze hand gesture to show their affection.
But the trials of adolescence come for every parent and child, and following a confrontation over Sonny’s plans to take his relationship with his girlfriend Chloe to the next level, he storms out of the house to meet her, but never arrives. Instead, he wakes up in the hospital a week later, having just emerged from a coma.
He is greeted by his best friend, Marcel, his girlfriend, and his mother—or is it?
Immediately, Sonny notices changes in his mother’s face—her hairline is different, her eyebrows are different, her voice is different. In fact, she may be an entirely different person altogether.
These distortions are visible to the audience as well, as we see them through Sonny’s eyes—eyes which have just opened from a weeklong coma, and which are connected to a brain that suffered a traumatic injury.
But the weirdness doesn’t end there, as his mother begins making strange phone calls, taking secret trips to the bank, and missing cues that Sonny believes his real mother never would.
Is this new behavior the work of an imposter, or that of a woman who just went through her own traumatic experience of almost losing her son?
The show excels in making both outcomes of this mystery seem plausible, and just when it begins to lean a little heavily onto one side, it drops another piece of information that has you questioning everything all over again.
We also discover that Sonny’s mystery isn’t the only one at play, as a larger web of small-town secrets begins to reveal itself the further into investigating he goes.
Who Stars in Phony?
At the forefront of this mystery is everyone’s favorite TV mom Connie Britton, who stars as Ellen Cooke. No stranger to horror or comedy, due to her previous work on American Horror Story and The White Lotus, it’s no surprise that she is able to effortlessly walk the tightrope of being a loving mother and potentially sinister doppelganger.
She also throws her hat in the ring with Executive Producer credits.
Opposite her is fellow The White Lotus alum Sam Nivola, who plays Sonny Cook, and serves as our narrator and lead investigator. Nivola brings naive charm and emotional depth to this role, and delivers some delightful slapstick humor on his search for the truth.
The main players in Sonny’s life, his girlfriend Chloe and best friend Marcel, are played by Mahaela Park and Maliq Johnson, respectively. When Sonny finds himself unable to confide in them, he turns to social outcasts Mallory, played by Grace Brennan, and her cousin Weldon, played by Colter Lee.
The trio adds a fourth member to their posse in the form of a “private investigator” and avid conspiracy theorist Sharla, played by prominent comedienne Meera Syal.
The series also stars Spencer Driver as a young Sonny and Kelvin Yu as the High School guidance counselor.
What Do We Know About a Second Season?
Phony hasn’t officially been renewed for a second season, but word is that the finale will leave us all wanting more. While the show’s creator Paley has promised to deliver resolutions to the central mystery by the end of this season, he also teased that the ending will open the door to a whole new story.
Fingers crossed we get to see more!
