If you’re a lesbian who loves period dramas, toxic romance, gorgeous costumes, and women loving women in the most heartbreaking way possible, then girl… how have you not binged The Confessions of Frannie Langton yet? This 2022 four-episode miniseries flew way too under the radar, and I’m still mad about it three years later.
Let me put you on.
The story follows Frannie Langton (played by the ridiculously beautiful Karise Yansen), a Jamaican enslaved woman who was brought to London in the 1820s. She ends up working as a maid for the wealthy and eccentric George Benham and his French wife, Marguerite (Sophie Cookson — yes, the same Sophie from Kingsman who made us all question things). What starts as a mistress-maid dynamic quickly turns into one of the most intense, passionate, and tragic lesbian relationships I’ve ever seen on screen.
And when I say lesbian, I mean LESBIAN. We’re not talking subtext here. We’re talking longing stares across candlelit rooms, secret touches under tables, full-on love scenes that had me pausing to breathe, and two women who are absolutely obsessed with each other in a time when that love could literally destroy them both.
Frannie is accused of murdering her employer and Marguerite, and the entire series is told through her “confessions” as she awaits trial. It’s gothic, it’s sexy, it’s devastating. Think The Handmaiden meets Portrait of a Lady on Fire but with opium, blood, and 19th-century racism thrown in the mix.
What makes this show hit different for lesbians specifically?
The chemistry between Karise and Sophie is insane. Like, I need them to star in 20 more projects together, please.
It doesn’t shy away from the power imbalance, the danger, the “we shouldn’t but we can’t stop” energy that so many of us have lived in some way.
Frannie is unapologetically queer. She loves women. She wants Marguerite so bad it hurts. And she never apologizes for it — even when the whole world is telling her she’s sinful, mad, or criminal.
Marguerite? A spoiled, bored, morphine-addicted aristocrat who falls stupidly in love with her maid and risks everything? Yeah, we’ve all been there, babe.
The show doesn’t give us a neat little happy ending (this is not your feel-good lesbian romance), but that’s what makes it so real. Sometimes loving a woman in a world that hates you for it ends in flames. And this one burns so beautifully.
Also, can we talk about how rare it is to see a dark-skinned Black lesbian lead in a period piece? Frannie isn’t just queer — she’s a former enslaved woman with trauma, intelligence, desire, and rage. She’s not a side character. She’s not comic relief. She’s the whole damn story.
If you’re into lesbian stories that don’t pull punches — stories about forbidden love, identity, race, class, and obsession — you need to watch this. It’s only four episodes. You can knock it out in one night with a bottle of wine and a box of tissues.
And yes, I still think about that bathtub scene. Don’t judge me.
Stream it on ITVX (if you’re in the UK) or hunt it down wherever you can — trust me, your lesbian heart will thank you (and then curse you for the emotional damage).
So… have you watched The Confessions of Frannie Langton yet? Drop your favorite moment in the comments — I need to know I’m not the only one still crying over these two. ♡
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