‘High Fidelity’ on Hulu: Zoe Kravitz Shines in This Effortlessly Cool Comedy

Hulu’s new series High Fidelity is an absolute charmer. From its witty and heartfelt (and sublimely perfect) premiere episode to its messy, devastating, yet inspiring finale, High Fidelity celebrates the highs and lows of love in all its forms. While it starts out as a meditation on heartbreak and loneliness, High Fidelity is just as obsessed with examining the beauty in tight, platonic tribes, the push and pull of sibling relationships, the importance of fandom, and the love we have for our hometowns. More than anything else, High Fidelity is a wonderfully addicting show buoyed by an endearing cast lead by Zoe Kravitz.

High Fidelity is loosely based on the Nick Hornby novel of the same name and is lovingly inspired by the 2000 film adaptation starring John Cusack and Jack Black. Unlike either other version of High Fidelity, Hulu’s series recasts Rob, the story’s lovelorn record shop owner protagonist, as a woman. This flip lets the story simultaneously seem more universal and more personal. Zoe Kravitz deconstructs her own effortlessly cool image to reveal the anxiety, self-loathing, guilt, and selfishness lurking in the heart of her Rob.

In fact, one of the best parts of High Fidelity is how it finally gives Zoe Kravitz the platform to show off the depth of her talent. For as long as she’s been acting, Kravitz has seemed adrift in star-powered ensembles. Here, Kravitz doesn’t just lead the show, but she commands it. She has to carry the viewer through lengthy monologues, multiple montages, ferocious flashbacks, and offbeat comedic set ups — and she does so seemingly effortlessly. Equal parts captivating and totally vulnerable, Kravitz seizes High Fidelity like she’s a conquering warlord. (She doesn’t just star in the series; she also executive produces High Fidelity and co-wrote one of the best episodes in the first season.)

High Fidelity kicks off with Rob still smarting from a breakup with the love of her life, Mac (Kingsley Ben-Adir). After trying to ease herself back into the dating pool with an awkward meetup with fleece vest-wearing nice guy Clyde (Jake Lacy), Rob recounts her Top 5 Heartbreaks to the audience. Her obsession with these breakups helps us understand why she’s gun-shy about love, and gives us a glimpse at how Rob’s own warped understanding of herself might actually be her biggest problem.

However, High Fidelity isn’t just about love and heartache. Rooting Rob (and the show) are her best friends and Championship Vinyl co-workers Simon (David H. Holmes) and Cherise (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). In fact, the show succeeds most when it strays from the source material and reimagines High Fidelity as a chicly modern comedy about the highs and lows of adulthood. That’s in huge part thanks to the crackling chemistry between Kravitz, Holmes, and Randolph. Holmes is something of a revelation here as Simon, Rob’s former flame-turned-best friend. He is the sensitive heart of the show. While Da’Vine Joy Randolph explodes with charisma as Cherise, further showing that she is a star to watch.

Thanks to its hipster vibe and ubiquitous monologues to camera, High Fidelity is destined to draw comparisons to two other super popular dramedies from the last year: Russian Doll and Fleabag. While High Fidelity isn’t quite as avant garde as Russian Doll, it does boast Natasha Lyonne as a director. She takes the helm for Episode 6, an electric and off-kilter look at the pros and cons of a fantasy rock & roll romance. Furthermore, Rob and her friends feel like they coexist in the same universe as Russian Doll‘s Nadia (even if they don’t live in the same NYC borough). As for the show’s connection to Fleabag, High Fidelity consistently breaks the fourth wall and celebrates its messy muse but it isn’t as bitter or as sharp as Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s smash hit. High Fidelity is softer, sweeter, and much more concerned with the concept of love.

High Fidelity uses its brilliant cast, sharp writing, and hypnotically cool set design to examine how relationships have and haven’t changed in the modern era. For all the thinkpieces about how technology has wrecked dating or how millennials can’t grow up, High Fidelity asserts that heartbreak, romance, friendship, family, loneliness, and loyalty are universal human experiences that haven’t changed that much. Like the classic albums its characters obsess about it, High Fidelity proves that the pursuit of love is something that will never go out of style.

All 10 episodes of High Fidelity premiere on Hulu on Friday, February 14. 

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