This Show Is Number One on Netflix. As a Woman, I Can’t Stop Watching

“I didn’t tell any of my friends because I was embarrassed, I just didn’t want them to know that I was one of those girls who was with a guy who was beating me,” says one survivor, as she details how isolated she became as a situationship devolved into abuse. That’s the kind of evocative-without-being-oversimplistic insight that’s offered repeatedly in Worst Ex Ever, which tells its story through interviews with survivors, victims’ families and investigators. I noted the sensitivity with which Worst Ex Ever depicted its violent episodes—they are narrated by the survivors, with non-exploitative animation reenacting the broad strokes of the abuse. And I appreciate the series’ nod to gender equity: In episode three, the baddie is an ex-wife who launches a malicious scheme against her ex-husband during a long custody battle.

This might sound odd, but I recommend this show as a viewing party for girlfriends to watch together, or at the very least to call out for comments on your besties’ text chain. That’s because Worst Ex Ever details occurrences that are all too usual in our lives—stalking and domestic abuse—and we all can learn from these women’s experiences. (I’m still reeling from the time an abuser knifed his girlfriend—then the perpetrator gaslit police into arresting her.) So yeah, you may also want some emotional support while watching the more intense scenes. But there's empowerment and strength on display here too. Call it a mild spoiler alert, if you will, but ultimately (in the first episode anyway), it's a woman who saves the day.