The Better Sister

The Better Sister is an American thriller television limited series created by Olivia Milch and starring Jessica Biel, Elizabeth Banks, Corey Stoll, and Maxwell Acee Donovan. Based on the 2019 novel by Alafair Burke, it premiered on May 29, 2025.

Premise

Two estranged sisters, Chloe and Nicky, one married to and the other divorced from the same man, Adam, are forced together after he is murdered.

Cast

Main

Jessica Biel as Chloe Taylor, the editor-in-chief of The Real Thing magazine
Elizabeth Banks as Nicky Macintosh, Chloe's estranged, alcoholic older sister
Corey Stoll as Adam Macintosh, Chloe's husband and Nicky's ex-husband
Maxwell Acee Donovan as Ethan Macintosh, Nicky and Adam's biological son
Gabriel Sloyer as Jake Rodriguez, an attorney at Adam's law firm and Chloe's lover
Kim Dickens as Detective Nancy "Nan" Guidry, an East Hampton detective who is investigating Adam's murder
Bobby Naderi as Detective Matt Bowen, Nancy's police partner who is investigating Adam's murder
Matthew Modine as Bill Braddock, a founding partner of the law firm where Adam and Jake work
Lorraine Toussaint as Catherine Lancaster, The Real Things publisher and Chloe's mentor and friend
Gloria Reuben as Michelle Sanders, the lawyer recommended by Jake to represent Ethan

Recurring

Michael J. Harney as Doorman Arty, the doorman at the building where Chloe, Adam, and Ethan live in Manhattan
Janel Moloney as Sheila, Chloe and Nicky's mother
Frederick Weller as Hank, Chloe and Nicky's father
John Finn as Clark, the East Hampton chief of police and Nan and Matt's boss
Paul Sparks as Ken, Nicky's love interest whom she meets at an AA meeting in East Hampton
Frank Pando as Edward Olivero, a FBI agent who has been blackmailing Adam and Jake

Production

The series is an adaptation by Olivia Milch and Regina Corrado of the 2019 novel The Better Sister by Alafair Burke. Burke acts as a consultant on the series which has Elizabeth Banks as co-star and executive producer via Brownstone Productions, and Jessica Biel as co-star and executive producer via Iron Ocean Films, along with Michelle Purple. Craig Gillespie will direct in addition to being an executive producer, along with Annie Marter through Fortunate Jack Productions. The series is a co-production between Tomorrow Studios and Amazon MGM Studios, with Marty Adelstein, Becky Clements, and Alissa Bachner of Tomorrow Studios executive producing.
In June 2024, Corey Stoll, Maxwell Acee Donovan, Gabriel Sloyer, Kim Dickens, and Bobby Naderi joined the cast.
Filming began in New York in June 2024, and wrapped in October 2024.

Release

The series was released on Amazon Prime Video with all eight episodes on May 29, 2025.

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 70% approval rating based on 33 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "A dense mystery with nods towards moral ambiguity, Better Sister is too derivative for its surprises to properly land but gets a dramatic lift from the appealing pairing of Elizabeth Banks and Jessica Biel." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gave a score of 56 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average".