Television series

High Fidelity

Name: High Fidelity
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance
Released: 2020
Cast: Zoë Kravitz, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, David H. Holmes, Jake Lacy

Other titles called High Fidelity: the 2000 film.

Musical

A witty, music-soaked dive into the life of Rob, a record store owner in Brooklyn processing a breakup by obsessing over Top Five lists and her exes. Sharp-edged but tender, it's for anyone who's ever weaponized taste as armour against feeling too much. Zoë Kravitz anchors it with irreverent charm.

TVMaze rating

3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love shows where a character talks about music the way others talk about family, and where a Top Five list can carry a whole emotional argument about who you used to be.

Skip it if you want a tight, plot-driven story; this is a loose, talky series that wanders through its heartbreak and is more interested in conversation and mood than in momentum.

What it asks of you: Ten half-hour episodes that take their time, asking you to stay with the chatter and the small looks between scenes rather than rushing toward a big payoff.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Fleabag2016

Razor-sharp comedy about a flawed woman navigating love and family, told with the same fourth-wall-breaking intimacy and self-aware humour that makes Rob's internal monologue so compelling.

But The British setting and faster pacing might feel distant if you're looking for something grounded in American indie culture and music fandom.

You're the Worst2014

Two damaged people in Los Angeles trying and failing to avoid feeling things for each other. Darkly funny, character-driven, and genuinely romantic beneath the cynicism—exactly High Fidelity's tone.

But It runs five seasons and the pacing sags in the middle. Some episodes prioritise plot chaos over character depth.

Love2016

Judd Apatow's series about a couple fumbling through connection in LA. Messy, honest, sometimes cringey, always real—it captures that same 'I'm a mess but my taste is immaculate' energy.

But Apatow's trademark excess means episodes meander. Not as punchy as High Fidelity, and some humour hasn't aged well.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from High Fidelity

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Punch-Drunk Love2002

Both films/shows refuse to let their protagonists' taste or intelligence save them from being utterly human. The obsession is both shield and wound.

Paul Thomas Anderson's gorgeous, brutal film about a lonely man undone by love. It's as invested in the protagonist's interior world as High Fidelity is in Rob's; the same kind of person, different register.

But It's a 90-minute fever dream where sound design overwhelms narrative clarity. Adam Sandler is unlikeable in ways that don't resolve tidily—this is not cathartic.

Master of None2015

Aziz Ansari's love letter to culture, food, and the problem of being thoughtful in a shallow world. Beautifully shot, funny without trying too hard, full of the same obsessive appreciation for craft.

But The tone shifts wildly between episodes. Some are profound; others feel slight. Season three abandons its lead character entirely.

Insecure2016

Issa Rae's Los Angeles is lived-in and specific, her friendships earned and complex. It understands how your taste and self-image protect you from vulnerability the way High Fidelity does.

But Requires patience; the first season is tentative. If you want immediate comedic payoff, you'll have to wait a few episodes.

mixed-ish2019

A show about a multiracial family navigating identity in the 1980s with smart writing and genuine warmth. It finds the comedy in culture clash without punching down, just like High Fidelity does.

But It's lighter and less introspective. If you're craving Rob's neurotic depth, this is sweeter but shallower.

Girls2012

Lena Dunham's New York saga of messy twentysomethings trying to be artists and adults simultaneously. Raw, unapologetic, and unafraid to make its characters unlikeable while remaining deeply human.

But The show's politics have aged poorly in places. Dunham's tendency to centre herself in every narrative can feel exhausting by season three.

Please Like Me2013

Josh Thomas's Australian comedy-drama about a young man processing a breakup alongside his mother's mental illness. Funny, devastating, unsentimental—proof that comedy and real pain can live in the same room.

But The Australian references and cultural specificity create distance. It's also deeply sad underneath the jokes, which might feel like tonal whiplash.

Russian Doll2019

Natasha Lyonne in a looping nightmare of a New York night where she keeps dying and starting over. Darkly comic, visually gorgeous, and obsessed with the same question: how do you fix yourself?

But The second season shifts away from what made the first work. Experimental in ways that don't always land, and the resolution feels anticlimactic.

High and Low1963

Both examine how the things we collect and the way we live reflect our values. Both ask: what are you actually protecting when you curate so carefully?

Kurosawa's masterpiece about a shoe magnate whose son is kidnapped, exploring how class, taste, and morality intersect. Visually stunning and morally complex in ways that feel utterly contemporary.

But It's a 1960s Japanese thriller with a slow burn and a philosophical bent. If you want immediate gratification, this demands patience and subtitles.

Belle de Jour1967

Both feature women whose taste and image are armour against deeper desires. Both understand that the self we present is often a desperate fiction we're trying to control.

Buñuel's surrealist masterpiece about a bourgeois woman whose secret afternoons in a brothel reveal the gap between her curated self and her desires. Erotic and darkly funny without a wink.

But Surrealist cinema means narrative logic dissolves. The sexual content is matter-of-fact in ways that might feel clinical. Not what you'd call plot-driven.