SXSW 2026 Review: MARGO'S GOT MONEY TROUBLES, You Think You Got Problems? Think Again.

In a very adult-skewing show, creator David E. Kelley goes where he has rarely gone before.

Margo's Got Money Troubles
The first two episodes enjoyed their world premiere at SXSW 2026. The 8-episode series will premiere globally on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 with three episodes, followed by new episodes every Wednesday through May 20, 2026. I've seen all eight episodes.

After graduating from law school, David E. Kelley became a practicing attorney, writing a script on his own time -- which eventually became the Judd Nelson-starring From the Hip (1987) -- that came to the attention of producer Steven Bochco (Hill Street Blues, who wanted writers with a legal background for his new TV show L.A. Law.

That's where he came to my attention. I enjoyed the first couple seasons, which were fine, if not exceptional, but the show rose to new heights after Kelley became the showrunner: the lawyers began displaying a wider range of personality traits, and became much more combative and combustible, which made for sizzling television in those broadcast network days. (It was also pre-internet, of course, which made me extremely curious about who was responsible for this notable change of tone.)

Since then, Kelley has continued his fantastically prolific career on a slew of television shows. Mostly he's written about lawyers -- most every conceivable type of attorney -- though he's also written about police officers and doctors and other professionals. My impression is that he's (mostly) written about white-collar people, though he usually empathetic towards blue-collar workers. He's unusually good at plotting and character development; mostly, he stays within dramatic territory, punctuated by wry comic strains.

With all this in mind, I was pleasantly surprised, initially, by his new show, Margo's Got Money Troubles, which revolves around the titular Margo, evocatively portrayed by Elle Fanning in her most adult role to date. Coupled with her excellent starring performance in the action thriller Predator: Badlands and her emotionally empathetic turn in support as a Hollywood star who knows her limitations in Sentimental Value, it's a remarkable string of head-turning performances.

Created by David E. Kelley, based on a novel by Rufi Thorpe which was first published in 2024, the show begins with Margo as a freshman at Fullerton College in suburban northern Orange County, California, U.S. Her literary talent catches the eye of her married English literature professor (Michael Angarano), which leads to their affair and, before the first episode concludes, her pregnancy.

Raised by a single mother, Shayanne (Michelle Pfeiffer), who works as a waitress at Hooters, Margo works nights as a waitress at another restaurant and lives in an apartment with three roommates, which sounds quite realistic in today's Southern California housing market. The unexpected arrival of a baby in the apartment adds to the anxiety of two of her roommates, who are attending college, while their fellow collegian Margo has dropped out due to extreme pressures from her baby-father's family. (Said baby-father wants nothing to do with the child, nor with Margo.)

Things deteriorate from there for Margo, who finds that her mother is repelled, rather than attracted, to her new child, which is only one piece of the pie that goes suddenly rancid. Among other things, who knew that raising a child by yourself would involve so much screaming (by the baby)? And who knew that it would be so impossibly expensive (check the price of diapers for a wake-up call)?

With each episode running 35-45 minutes, the series starts on the lighter side of Kelley's work, bolstered by dextrous performances that easily straddle mommy comedy and family drama, with stellar performances that sting, led by Elle Fanning, who can turn from the brightest of sunshine to the deepest of midnights in the blink of an eye, and Michelle Pfeiffer, who is more saucy-tongued and outspoken than I can recall, thanks to her writer/husband, David E. Kelley.

Margo's father, Jinx Millet (Nick Offerman) is first seen on television as a professional wrestler, and then we learn gradually about his character, and why he was never involved in Margo's life, post-conception. His return to Margo is told in a series of scenes that are interspersed throughout the first couple of episodes. Without spoiling anything that happens beyond that, I can say that Jinx Millet plays an increasing important role.

The other characters who deserve mention are Thaddea Graham, who is terrific as Margo's loyal roommate and very good friend, and Greg Kinnear, who plays a pastor who becomes increasingly important to Shayanne, and thus provides a good counterpoint/comparison role to Jinx.

Initially, I thought the first episode was so bright and cheerful that I questioned whether David E. Kelley had written it. Then it darkens and I thought: "A-ha!" The show benefits tremendously from Elle Fanning's performance, who brings the complicated, layered, coldly calculating, warmly effusive, and supremely motherly Margo to life, brilliantly.