Hulu’s Binge-Worthy New Series Is Officially a Streaming Sensation

Hulu has been having a great comedy run over the last several years. From megahits like Only Murders in the Building and The Bear to fan favorites like Deli Boys and The Great, the streamer is slowly cornering the genre. Like other streaming services, Hulu is always on the lookout for the next hit, and it has found one in a quirky mystery-comedy that has become a favorite among fans and critics.

It is one of those rare shows that works for both camps, as shown by the near-matching scores on Rotten Tomatoes. With a 92% critic score and a 91% audience score, the verdict is near-unanimous that Phony is entertaining. The coming-of-age mystery follows teenager Sonny Cook (Sam Nivola), who wakes up after an accident and realizes something is amiss. Sonny’s only parent, Ellen (Connie Britton), is also his best friend. They know each other intimately and even have a secret language. But after the accident, Sonny wakes up to find his mom isn’t really his mom, having been replaced by an impostor. The problem is that no one else can see it, and Sonny is convinced that the impostor mom could be dangerous.

Nick Paley created the series, and the cast also includes Grace Brennan (Pet Shop Days), Maliq Johnson (Grand Army), Colter Lee (Cursed Friends), Meera Syal (The Wheel of Time), and Mahaela Park (Dìdi). Fans have been enamored by the show’s quirky vibe, funny situations, and central mystery. Phony is officially one of Hulu’s most-watched shows in the U.S., ranked third by FlixPatrol at the time of writing. It has hit number one at its peak when new episodes are released on Tuesdays. Outside the U.S., it streams on Disney+, where it has also seen significant success and ranked in the top ten.

Four franchises, four completely different ways of getting underneath
your skin. This is the one built out of your particular fear, why it works so well on you, and what
it would leave behind.

Your nightmare does not wait outside the door. It waits for you
to close your eyes, which you are going to have to do eventually, because nobody has ever
won that particular argument.

• Freddy is horror’s cruellest idea: a threat that lives in the one place you cannot
  guard, cannot lock, and cannot avoid forever.
• You are the one who is fine during the film and wide awake at two in the morning. Your
  own head is where this does its damage.
• These films understood exhaustion as a horror engine. The kids on Elm Street do not lose
  because they are weak. They lose because they are tired.
• You can lock every door in the house. You still have to sleep.

Your nightmare is not really the doll. It is the face of the
person you tell, and the way they decide, very kindly, that you have imagined all of it.

• Chucky works precisely because he is absurd. That is the trap: the more accurately you
  describe him, the less anybody is going to believe you.
• You are the one shouting at the screen because the characters are not listening. You
  know that feeling from real life too.
• The franchise is at its best when the adults in the room are the real obstacle, and you
  have met those adults.
• By the time somebody finally believes you, you will have handled most of it on your own.

Your nightmare has your number, knows your name, and has almost
certainly been inside your house before. The worst part is that you already know them.

• Scream is the only one of these where the killer takes the mask off and turns out to be
  somebody who was at the party.
• You are the person who calls the twist out loud before it lands. You watch people the
  same way you watch films.
• The franchise made the rules of horror part of the plot, which means the survivors are
  the ones paying attention. You would be paying attention.
• Everybody is a suspect, including the person who just offered to walk you home.

Your nightmare is not really about you. It is about the people
asleep down the hall, and the feeling that whatever is here is not interested in leaving.

• The Conjuring films are domestic horror. The house, the family, the perfectly ordinary
  room that quietly stops feeling ordinary.
• Your instinct is to get everybody into one room. Your fear is protective rather than
  personal, which is rarer than it sounds.
• This is the one franchise where belief is the weapon. The people who come through it are
  the ones who are not alone and refuse to be.
• Whatever is here did not come for you. It came for the household, and you are the one
  standing in the hallway.

Is ‘Phony’ Worth Watching?

• Image: Dave Astorga/Hulu

• Image via Hulu

• Image: Dave Astorga/Hulu

• Image via Hulu

• Image: Dave Astorga/Hulu

Image: Dave Astorga/Hulu

Image via Hulu

Image: Dave Astorga/Hulu

Image via Hulu

Image: Dave Astorga/Hulu

• Image: Dave Astorga/Hulu

• Image via Hulu

• Image: Dave Astorga/Hulu

• Image via Hulu

• Image: Dave Astorga/Hulu

Image: Dave Astorga/Hulu

Image via Hulu

Image: Dave Astorga/Hulu

Image via Hulu

Image: Dave Astorga/Hulu

According to critics, the series is worth investing in, even though they were only given half the episodes to review. Collider’s David Caballero noted that while the show does not break any new ground thematically or visually, it is “genuinely trippy.” He added that Phony could have spent more time building Sonny and Ellen’s connection to make it more believable. ScreenRant‘s Grant Hermanns praised Nivola and Brittons’ performances, noting that while the first four episodes are far from perfect, the series is “inviting.” AV Club‘s Ben Rosenstock enjoyed “hanging out in its idiosyncratic world” as much as he did getting to the central mystery.

Stream new episodes of Phony on Hulu in the U.S. on Tuesdays and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.