We might never age out of watching salacious teen drama series, glued to finding out who rooted who and what everyone’s wearing to the formal even as we wilt into senility. Netflix hasn’t helped things either, with their continuing slew of shows like Sex Education and Never Have I Ever: add Heartbreak High to that list, a sparkly new remake of the 90s Australian high school show.
At only eight short episodes, the first season of Heartbreak High 2022 has already won over a little legion of fans, and critics are feeling the Gen Z love too. Scroll on to find out the best bits of the series that reviewers have singled out so far.
Euphoria or Sex Education gone down under
The teen drama landscape is competitive lately, and plenty of reviews were quick to question whether we really needed another tale of adolescent identity, romance, and gossip. NME negatively noted Heartbreak High feels “a little too familiar…besides the accents, slang and Sydney backdrop”.
The Guardian brought up Sex Education (“it is so similar to Sex Education that if they weren’t both on Netflix, I’d wonder whether Netflix would have something to say about it. It basically removes the sex therapist element, moves it to the southern hemisphere and hopes for the best.”). Ready Steady Cut referenced that show and Euphoria, beginning their review with “let’s get the obvious comparisons out of the way”, before hyping up that Heartbreak High “might be the new gold standard for the genre.”
If euphoria and never have i ever had a child it would be -> #HeartbreakHigh
— Cyane⁷ (@cyanied17) September 14, 2022
At the very least, the series’ Sydney setting and quirky regional lingo have helped it stand out: Pedestrian raised Skins as a comparable project but said “let’s face it…we’ve never really had an Aussie series that felt relatable. Heartbreak High is as stylish and cool as it is addictive and I promise you’ll be obsessed.”
It's about time Netflix had an aggressively Australian teen show like Heartbreak High is de-li-ver-ing
— chini (@Aunty_Gay) September 14, 2022
One of the only unrealistic elements to this down under teen series is that, as many Aus viewers pondered, the characters are allowed to wear whatever TikTok-trendy streetwear fits they want, rather than a daggy pleated uniform and floppy sunhat.
Watching heartbreak high on Netflix and is there ever an explanation as to why they are seemingly the only public high school in Australia without a school uniform?
— cosmic jester (@cosmicjester) May 2, 2021
Way more raunchy than the OG show
The Guardian points out that the original 90s show was considered quite gritty for Australian primetime TV: “while this update doesn’t shy away from those tougher issues, it has a much more ironic tone, and a generous sense of humour.” Did the first Heartbreak High start off with a pervy “incest map” mural painted on the walls, forcing the entirety of Year 11 to attend cringey emergency sex ed, though?
Our hero is the culprit Amerie (Ayesha A Madon), and her ensuing social paraiah status leads to “foul-mouthed and sometimes explicit” shenanigans, Ready Steady Cut says: “far more so than the soapy shenanigans you imagine when you think of the original”. The Sydney Morning Herald called the show “wild, fun, moving, and bound to be shocking…gender, sexuality, drug-taking, slut-shaming and neurodiversity are the pressing topics du jour.”
But returning to The Guardian‘s positive take, apparently underage boinking is not the show’s top priority. “There is something sweet about Heartbreak High’s insistence on the central love story being a platonic one between teenage girls”, namely Amerie’s “dumping” by bestie Harper (Asher Yasbincek), “The message is very clearly that there are more important things to worry about than sex and romance and boys.” Yes, even the ridiculously handsome and clearly not teenaged Dusty (Josh Heuston).
A diverse cast of newcomers set for stardom
The most overwhelmingly well-received element of the new Heartbreak High is in how it writes, casts, and represents all kinds of teen characters: queer kids, First Nations and POC kids, neurodiverse kids…
Chloe Hayden’s role as the autistic lesbian Quinni is perhaps the centre of this praise, with a clip of the character getting overstimulated trying to find a table at a busy restaurant hitting hard for many viewers on the spectrum. NME applauds that in her, “a lived-in complexity to the character unfolds without over-explanation.”
oh, my god, #HeartbreakHigh is everything. autistic. shes autistic. QUINNI IS AUTISTIC and shes me??? shes so exactly how i am??? i love her so much and i have never dared to believe this could happen QUINNI IS GROUNDBREAKING im sobbing i feel so comforted
— naoise | drafting (55k/80k) (@visorforavisor) September 14, 2022
There ain’t no big name, established talents here, but many reviews found that refreshing, and see bigger projects ahead for all of the young Aussie stars. “Madon, who has only one previous credit, is as capable a lead as any I’ve seen recently”, Ready Steady Cut exuded, and [James] Majoos, who according to IMDb hasn’t been in anything before this, is an absolute delight” as Amerie’s fellow outcast and non-binary bestie Darren.
In fact most reviews had a differing opinion of which adolescent cast member is the standout: a good sign. NME picked Will McDonald’s drug dealer Ca$H as “a highlight who, despite the clichés of a kid falling into the wrong crowd, provides some of the more grounded scenes in the show.” “Each of these actors is terrific”, the Sydney Morning Herald summarised, “and while veteran actor Rachel House plays school principal Woodsy for (mostly dark) laughs, it works.”
A new teen fandom awakens
“If any show deserves the kind of widespread mainstream attention that Netflix can facilitate, it’s this one”, Ready Steady Cut concluded their review. Judging by Twitter and Insta reactions from Netflix’s intended demographic, it would seem Heartbreak High is gonna get that attention.
For the viewers hitting social media to express their feels, there are only a few problematic points: that the first season is too short, and that they’re terrified Netflix might cancel it before it has a chance to blossom.
Heartbreak High has me in a serious chokehold but it’s only 8 episodes. I hate that!
— $antana ✨💛 (@santanathadon) September 15, 2022
Imma need y'all to tune into Heartbreak High. Netflix has taken too many shows from me prematurely pic.twitter.com/P5EvByTDeU
— D🅰️ve (@DaveTheAnodite) September 14, 2022
Oh, and if you think you’re too old for this deeply 2022 show, don’t rack off just yet: Pedestrian suggested that it has wistful appeal for viewers of all ages. “Despite the series channelling teen themes, watching Heartbreak High made me realise that some of the shit we go through in high school doesn’t really end. The search for identity, falling out with your mates and relationship dramas up the wazoo. I really enjoyed seeing these topics conveyed on-screen and I just know viewers will too.”
