---
title: "You"
year: 2018
kind: "series"
canonical: "https://film.one/tv/you"
fi1m_id: "you"
imdb_id: "tt7335184"
tmdb_id: 78191
wikidata_id: "Q39082126"
fi1m_score: 72
critics_score: 65
critics_reviews: 8
published: "2026-09-23T11:10:29.455953+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-23T11:10:40.625551+00:00"
region: "BG"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# You (2018)

Created by Greg Berlanti, Sera Gamble · BG 16 · Mystery, Crime, Drama

## Identity

You

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/tv/you
- **Type:** Series
- **Fi1m ID:** you
- **IMDb ID:** tt7335184
- **TMDB ID:** 78191
- **Wikidata ID:** Q39082126
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7335184/, https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/78191, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q39082126

**Fi1m score: 72** · Critics 65 from 8 reviews

*In a sentence:* He has confused access to a search engine with permission to be someone’s boyfriend

> Penn Badgley makes *You* an entertaining, uncomfortable stalker thriller, with a voice-over that turns courtship into surveillance. The social satire is blunt, and the plotting sometimes hurries past the questions worth asking.

## Synopsis

In Manhattan, bookshop manager Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) takes an interest in customer Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail). He wants to become part of her life, and her social media gives him a way to investigate it without asking her. His pursuit crosses from examining her online presence to entering her home, while his running internal commentary supplies justifications for the intrusion. A meeting in a bookshop becomes a courtship conducted partly without the woman’s knowledge, with Joe treating her privacy as an obstacle. The wider cast includes Victoria Pedretti as Love Quinn.

## Review

Sera Gamble and Greg Berlanti’s *You* is an entertaining stalker thriller, strongest when it lets its central character explain himself into ever worse trouble. Penn Badgley plays Joe Goldberg, a bookshop manager whose interest in a customer becomes an obsessive pursuit. The opening uses Manhattan’s literary milieu to make an apparently promising encounter feel plausible. We recommend it for the tension and black comedy, with reservations about the heavy-handed social commentary.

Penn Badgley gives the voice-over enough conversational ease that it can take a moment to notice the entitlement in what Joe is saying. We felt uncomfortably close to his way of thinking. His running commentary presents the gathering of information about a customer as attentive courtship, inviting us to follow each grubby little justification. The performance is funny without making Joe seem harmless, and persuasive without making his conduct reasonable. Much of the humour comes from his confidence that he has explained himself satisfactorily.

Elizabeth Lail plays Guinevere Beck, the woman Joe pursues, and the apparent courtship needs her credibility as much as his charm. The bookshop meeting supplies a familiar romantic beginning before his behaviour makes it alarming. Her social media becomes a means of reaching into her private life, and the programme notices how ordinary that first act of looking can seem. There is no need to make the technology mysterious or elaborate. The discomfort comes from recognising what he can learn without ever asking her a question.

The visual polish helps, with W. Mott Hupfel III among the cinematographers credited on the series. The glossy presentation allows the romantic-comedy pretence to remain convincing while Joe’s commentary makes it increasingly unpleasant. The production designers include Adam Scher, and the bookshop and literary surroundings give Joe a respectable setting in which to behave badly; their usefulness goes beyond providing attractive shelves. Blake Neely’s music is less effective at unsettling us than the persistent narration, which keeps returning us to Joe’s explanations when we might prefer some distance.

Gaston Jaren Lopez and Troy Takaki are among the editors, and the movement between psychological threat and black comedy gives the series much of its pace. That movement keeps the premise watchable, although the plotting too often reaches for another complication before examining the last one properly. Sera Gamble and Greg Berlanti’s writing is less assured when delivering warnings about online vanity and literary pretension. The jokes become broad and the warnings insistent. Joe’s excuses give us plenty to consider without the programme repeatedly pointing out what is wrong with them.

A psychological thriller built around a stalker does not need to provide a complete account of modern dating to justify itself. This one becomes less convincing whenever it insists that its commentary deserves as much attention as its suspense. Its willingness to be absurd is welcome, though, and the tense passages have enough force to survive the broader jokes. Try it for Penn Badgley, provided blunt social satire does not spoil a tense evening.

*Fi1m score 72, published 23 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

The reviews lean towards finding You compelling, with praise clustering around its psychological tension, black comedy and treatment of social media as a stalker’s tool. Several critics admire how it unsettles romantic-comedy conventions by placing viewers inside its protagonist’s delusional perspective. The voice-over and knowing humour help make a familiar premise feel distinctive, while Collider singles out Penn Badgley and Shay Mitchell’s performances as strengths.

The disagreement concerns how much thought lies beneath the entertainment, and the spread runs from enthusiasm to rejection. More reserved reviews find the social commentary heavy-handed, the plotting too dependent on fresh developments, or the premise difficult to sustain. Den of Geek is especially enthusiastic about the pilot’s self-aware handling of misogyny and everyday behaviour. The Ringer, by contrast, finds the combination of camp and thriller uneasy and regards the toxic masculinity as troubling rather than a persuasive reason to watch.

## Straight answers

**Is You worth watching?**

*You* is worth watching for Penn Badgley’s unsettling charm, sustained tension and black comedy, and we score it 72 out of 100. We recommend it to viewers who enjoy an uncomfortable psychological thriller, provided blunt social satire and plotting that rushes past interesting questions do not spoil the pleasure.

**How long is You, and what is it rated?**

*You* is rated 16 by the BG in Bulgaria. It is a mystery and crime series.

**Where can I watch You in Bulgaria?**

*You* is streaming on Netflix in Bulgaria. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How violent or frightening is You, and is it suitable for children?**

*You* carries a UK 18 certificate and is not suitable for children; its stalking and invasions of privacy make it an uncomfortable adult thriller. Joe’s pursuit extends from examining social media to entering a woman’s home, while his persuasive internal commentary brings us unpleasantly close to his justifications.

**How does You compare to The Talented Mr. Ripley?**

*You* offers quicker shifts between psychological threat and black comedy than [*The Talented Mr. Ripley*](https://film.one/film/the-talented-mr-ripley), which we favour for patient suspense and its more persuasive treatment of social aspiration. Both make charm unsettling, but *You* leans on Joe’s self-justifying narration and broad satire, while *Ripley* makes class envy painfully personal despite its over-elaborate plotting.

### Reviews we read (8)

- **Vulture** (75/100, inferred): The critic describes the series as bonkers and magnetic, with intentional absurdity and tonal shifts between serious exploration of toxic masculinity and satire of rich people. It singles out the voice-over trapping viewers in the protagonist's warped worldview and strong social media integration for praise, while noting some elements like a subplot feel underdeveloped. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2018/09/you-lifetime-penn-badgley-review.html)
- **Empire**, Ian Freer (70/100, inferred): The series mixes psychological thrills and black comedy to mostly entertaining ends, skewering millennial hipsters and romcom tropes while delivering tense set-pieces and knowing laughs. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/tv/reviews/you2018-review/)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Daniel Fienberg (70/100, inferred): An extremely watchable stalker drama that effectively stokes digital paranoia and offers interesting fun, though it falls short of deeper thoughtfulness and settles for narrative churn over genuine challenge. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/you-review-1140229/)
- **Variety**, Daniel D'Addario (60/100, inferred): A flawed but compelling drama with sharp ideas about social media and an interesting premise set in a hip-young-literary Manhattan, yet it lacks the courage of its convictions and questions how long the intensity can be sustained. [Read](https://variety.com/2018/tv/reviews/tv-review-you-lifetime-1202913850/)
- **The Guardian** (56/100, inferred): The critic describes the Netflix series as a glossy stalker drama starring Penn Badgley as bookshop manager Joe, who obsessively pursues a customer by mining her social media and breaking into her home. It notes some genuinely tense moments but criticizes the heavy-handed messaging and preachy tone about social media and pretension. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/dec/22/netflix-you-single-white-female)
- **Den of Geek**, Kayti Burt (3.5 out of 5): The critic praises the pilot for brilliantly executing a familiar stalker premise through self-awareness that subverts romantic comedy tropes and places viewers inside the protagonist's delusional, misogynistic perspective. It singles out the recognizable tension in everyday behavior and the horror-meet-cute structure for praise. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/you-episode-1-review-pilot/)
- **Collider**, Andrea Reiher (★★★): The series presents an intriguing premise about a stalker but takes time to reveal its twists, which may turn off viewers early. It benefits from strong performances, particularly by Penn Badgley and Shay Mitchell, and commentary on social media and dating. [Read](https://collider.com/you-review-lifetime/)
- **The Ringer**, Claire McNear (40/100, inferred): The critic outlines the premise of the Lifetime series about a bookstore manager who stalks an MFA student and questions whether audiences should watch given its uneasy mix of camp and thriller elements. She singles out the toxic masculinity on display as particularly troubling in the current cultural moment. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2018/09/10/tv/should-you-watch-you-lifetime-penn-badgley)

## Details

- **Created by:** Greg Berlanti, Sera Gamble
- **Creator:** Greg Berlanti, Sera Gamble
- **Director:** Silver Tree, Marcos Siega, John Scott, Harry Jierjian, Lee Toland Krieger, Pete Chatmon, Rachel Leiterman, Erin Feeley, Erica Dunton, Kellie Cyrus, Penn Badgley, Meera Menon, Maggie Carey, Victoria Mahoney, Cherie Nowlan, So Yong Kim, Shamim Sarif, Martha Mitchell, Gaby Dellal, Sasha Alexander, Kevin Rodney Sullivan, Cheryl Dunye, Marta Cunningham, Shannon Kohli, DeMane Davis
- **Writer:** Neil Reynolds, Michael Foley, Amanda Johnson-Zetterström, Hillary Benefiel, Justin W. Lo, Kara Lee Corthron, Sera Gamble, Kelli Breslin, Mairin Reed, Dylan Cohen, Leo Richardson, Anna Beth Chao, Adria Lang, April Blair, Caroline Kepnes, Maren Caldwell
- **Teleplay:** Sera Gamble, Greg Berlanti
- **Cinematography:** W. Mott Hupfel III, Hillary Spera, David Lanzenberg
- **Editor:** Gaston Jaren Lopez, Troy Takaki, Rita K. Sanders, Harry Jierjian
- **Music:** Blake Neely
- **Production design:** Hugh D.G. Moody, Sarah Knowles, Kevin Phipps, Adam Scher, Jerry Fleming, Cynthia Charette
- **Costume design:** Donna Maloney
- **Producer:** Jason Sokoloff, Adria Lang, Ryan Lindenberg
- **Cast:** Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg; Elizabeth Lail as Guinevere Beck; Charlotte Ritchie as Kate Galvin; Victoria Pedretti as Love Quinn; Griffin Matthews as Teddy Lockwood; Anna Camp as Maddie Lockwood / Reagan Lockwood; Saffron Burrows as Dottie Quinn; Tati Gabrielle as Marienne Bellamy
- **Certificate (BG):** 16
- **Release (Bulgaria):** 9 September 2018
- **Genres:** Mystery, Crime, Drama
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v99ooSjCVhg

## Where to watch in Bulgaria

- Netflix: streaming

*Checked 2026-09-23.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, AZ, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *The Fall* (2006): Another unsettling study of predatory behaviour concealed beneath an ordinary public life.
- *The Talented Mr. Ripley* (1999), Fi1m 80: Charm and social aspiration make dangerous company in this patient psychological thriller. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-talented-mr-ripley.md)
- *Ingrid Goes West* (2017): Online intimacy becomes painfully tangible in a comedy with little comfort to offer.
- *Monsieur Hire* (1989): A quieter, sadder treatment of watching strangers and imagining intimacy.
- *Peeping Tom* (1960): For a more disturbing examination of looking, complicity and cultivated sympathy.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/you