RD Recommends

Our top picks in TV, books and movies

- Danielle Groen

1 MY BRILLIANT FRIEND

Two girls grow up poor in Naples: they’re both razor-sharp, but Lila burns a little brighter and Elena knows it. Their complicated and competitive friendship stretches over the four books and 60 years that make up Elena Ferrante’s international blockbuster. For this eight-episode adaptation of the first novel, set in the 1950s, director Saverio Costanzo auditioned nearly 9,000 children before choosing his young leads. Nov. 18.

DID YOU KNOW?

My Brilliant Friend is HBO’s first non-English-language series and stars mostly unknown local actors speaking in a heavy regional dialect. Happily, there are subtitles.

2 ALL THE LIVES WE NEVER LIVED

Anuradha Roy