In Hulu’s “Phony,” high school student Sonny Cooke (Sam Nivola) wakes up following a freak car accident to discover something deeply unsettling: his mother, Ellen (Connie Britton), isn’t his mother. Or at least that’s what he believes. She looks almost identical to the woman who raised him, the single parent and high school principal at Sonny’s school, the one with whom he shares inside jokes and evening routines. Anyone privy to Sonny’s revelation dismisses it as false. Sonny knows better.
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This is the core premise of “Phony,” Nick Paley’s (“Marcel the Shell With Shoes On”) mindtrip of a show that somehow blends day-to-day high school shenanigans with a psychological mystery, leaving more questions than answers in its wake. This, mind you, is far from a bad thing, keeping a tight grip on audience interest as the episodes inadvertently threaten to collapse under the potential of redundancy; there’s something familiar about “Phony,” just as there’s something unfamiliar about Ellen.
Simultaneously, the wholly original space Paley’s jaunt occupies makes for a welcome detour from the avalanche of scripted slop clogging the pipes of roughly every streaming service nowadays. It’s about time for something like this.
Sonny’s persona somehow mirrors his dilemma. Chameleon-like in the way he interacts with various groups and classmates, most notably his best friend/injured football hero Vogel (Maliq Johnson) and girlfriend Chloe (Mahaela Park), the latter of whom is on the verge of taking their relationship to the next natural level. Yet, as Sonny makes a full recovery, his insistence that a stranger now lives within his home leads him to confide in an old friend, Mallory (Grace Brennan), now returning to public school following years of homeschooling, alongside Mallory’s cousin Weldon (Colter Lee), always armed with a quip and more than a bit of assistance.
Will their belief in Sonny’s claims be enough to get to the bottom of such a peculiar situation, one with a possibly horrific outcome? Unfortunately, this gang of amateur sleuths isn’t nearly enough manpower to crack open whatever this case may be: enter Sharla (Meera Syal), a private investigator Sonny begins to contact in hopes her experience will move the needle toward some semblance of resolution.
Has Ellen indeed been replaced? The show’s progression begins to shed light on what may or may not be happening: a clandestine phone call to an unknown recipient, overheard by Sonny, or a test to see whether “Ellen” remembers how to cook a signature family recipe.
As the woman who may or may not be Ellen expresses mock (?) frustration over her son’s changed demeanor, it only fuels Sonny’s quest, while audience members might enjoy seeing how Britton’s appearance has changed, subtle or exaggerated as that may be. It’s hard to tell, and I’m here for it.
“Phony” reflects the identity struggle countless teenagers go through in the years leading up to adulthood, and for many, it never seems to end. It’s a show that’s hard to look away from, as what could be considered “Something I’ve seen before” quickly gives way to something far more compelling.
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It helps that the cast powers the engine, one that Paley has built to essentially feed upon itself in a manner that, with the end of each episode, those who want to see what happens next can’t ignore. In the case of “Phony,” it could go just about anywhere. I only hope we’re ready for whatever that may be. [A]
Brian Farvour
Brian Farvour is a film/television critic and entertainment journalist whose work has also appeared on Fandomwire. He previously co-hosted The Playlist Podcast.
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