You’ve waited your professional life for this moment, you finally got the job you’ve dreamed about, and life couldn’t get any sweeter. Until you realize you’re the only Black girl there and things start getting weird…weirder than wondering if you’re the diversity hire.
Meet Nella, an editorial assistant, is tired of being the only Black girl at her company, so she’s excited when Hazel is hired. But as Hazel’s star begins to rise, Nella spirals out and discovers something sinister is going on at the company.
Based on the bestselling debut novel by Zakiya Dalila Harris, The Other Black Girl centers on 26-year-old Nella Rogers, an editorial assistant at the fictional publishing house Wagner Books, who’s relieved when another Black woman, Hazel, finally starts working at the otherwise all-white company. That is, until Nella starts to receive threatening notes to leave Wagner and she realizes Hazel may not be who she seems. While the series and the book are set in the publishing industry, it is a reflection of corporate America, displaying the microaggressions and class hierarchies embedded throughout.
As seen in the trailer above, The Other Black Girl gives the vibes of a dark thriller, possibly a psychological drama that makes you question if you really know who you work for? Despite being an editorial assistant, Nella is treated more like the help, as she’s seen cleaning and taking coffee orders for her boss at a New York City publishing house and is clearly tired of being manipulated and marginalized as the only Black girl at her company.
Things quickly start looking up when Hazel-May McCall, played by Ashleigh Murray, is hired and sits in the office cubicle behind her own. Now there are two Black women at the company, but as Hazel becomes the office darling at Wagner Books, Nella spirals and discovers something sinister is going on. First, there seems to be live video footage of her sitting at her desk. Is the company spying on her? Is it Hazel-May? Then there are creepy images of a trapped woman appearing on her screen. Is that Nella with straighter hair or someone else? Then there are the many messages left on her desk, telling her to, “LEAVE WAGNER. NOW.”
Is the company hiding a sinister secret? Is there something darker going on with Hazel-May? Or could this all be a result of Nella being overworked and hallucinating? “I feel like I’m completely losing my mind,” Nella says.
All will be answered on September 13th when Hulu releases all 10 episodes.
The Other Black Girl is a Hulu original from Onyx Collective and stars Sinclair Daniel, Ashleigh Murray, Brittany Adebumola, Hunter Parrish, Bellamy Young, Eric McCormack, and Garcelle Beauvais.
It is executive produced by Rashida Jones, Adam Fishbach, Zakiya Dalila Harris, Jordan Reddout, Gus Hickey, Tara Duncan, and Temple Hill’s Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey. Jordan Reddout and Gus Hickey also serve as co-showrunners.
