BBC One drama The Girl Before<\/a> presents the viewer with not three, but four lead characters. There is Jane (Gugu-Mbatha Raw), a grieving mother; visionary architect Edward (David Oyelowo<\/a>); and Emma (Jessica Plummer), the titular \u2018girl before\u2019. But the fourth lead is the beautiful, minimalist house that connects all three characters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Designed by Edward Monkford, o<\/span>ccupants of One Folgate Street must abide by his list of exacting rules in order to live there. But, three years apart, both Jane and Emma find themselves drawn to the starkly modern house, and to the challenge of abiding by Edward\u2019s rules, which require them to put aside any items that aren\u2019t \u2018essential\u2019 to their lives. <\/span><\/p>\n The rent is ridiculously low; instead, the house\u2019s virtual system \u201cHousekeeper\u201d collects data on the inhabitants and their intimate habits \u2013 on which spaces they use most, or what temperature they prefer in the shower.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Both women apply to live at the house. Jane is single, but Emma is accompanied by her insecure boyfriend, Simon. The two women are dealing with recent trauma: Jane\u2019s daughter was stillborn, while Emma was robbed at knifepoint. Their shared desperation to move out of their former homes (which, for both of them, evoke painful memories of their respective traumas) seems to appeal to Edward, who interviews them at his office three years apart. <\/span><\/p>\n Both women also act as though they\u2019ve won a lottery of sorts when they\u2019re handed the keys (or in this case, electronic bracelet) to the house \u2013 although Simon seems less keen, proving suspicious of the charismatic Edward.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Like One Folgate Street itself, the drama seduces, lulling viewers into a false sense of security \u2013 before ratcheting up the tension. The house is a pressure cooker: stripped bare of distractions, its residents (in both separate timelines) have nowhere to hide.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Before moving in, Emma fills in a questionnaire for Edward, including a question about whether she\u2019d ever be happy living with a \u2018second-rate partner\u2019. As the episode goes on, it becomes clear how much her answer is playing on her mind.<\/span><\/p>\n David Oyelowo is perfectly cast as the enigmatic Edward: in another actor\u2019s hands, the character would come across as sinister from the get-go, but instead he\u2019s charming and oddly vulnerable. In episode one, he connects with Jane, going out for coffee with her and proposing a relationship as unconventional as the house he\u2019s built, stripped bare of anything \u2018unessential\u2019, like romantic gestures or Valentine\u2019s Day gifts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The similarities between Emma and Jane are frequently highlighted: in one split-screen montage, showing the two unpacking three years apart, they are dressed in the exact same rust-red shade. But it\u2019s not until flowers begin appearing outside the house, and Jane learns that they\u2019re for someone else, that she discovers \u2018the girl before\u2019. <\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s soon revealed that Emma met a troubling fate three years ago, and the house has been empty ever since. Looking at a press photo of Emma, we see Jane register the resemblance between herself and her predecessor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n However, as the two timelines interweave at the end of episode one, the question remains: will Jane confront those similarities in time?<\/span><\/p> The Girl Before premieres on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 9pm on Sunday December 19 2021. <\/b><\/span>While you\u2019re waiting, take a look at our other <\/b>Drama<\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0coverage, or find out what else is on with our\u00a0<\/b>TV guide<\/b><\/span><\/a>.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n![\""the\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2021\/09\/the-girl-before-b2453f0.png?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"the-girl-before\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n