British coming of age TV for all!
Suitable for all gender and sexual orientations.
After Pillion last month… some more movie time for me…. since it was the Xmas holidays and I had time on my hands, I decided to start watching some more overdue things!!
Watching Heartstopper felt like being wrapped in a weighted blanket: soft, grounding, and just the right kind of heavy. If Sex Education blew the doors off shame and secrecy, Heartstopper deals with what happens after we come out, when the real work of being seen, loved, and safe starts.
It’s tender queer joy with shadows at the edges (literal shadows on screen too sometimes). It shows the ache, the mental health issues running beneath the bright colours and hopeful glances. In particular season three reminded me of something deeper, a book I read a long time ago… A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. But on screen, the pain is translated into tenderness. The show doesn’t punch you in the stomach (gosh, that book destroyed me a little), but it reminds you how some people go through harder times than others, and how some conversations can be really hard, yet still need to happen.
Charlie and his sister? Absolutely ADORABUBBLE. Their relationship is the kind of quiet, gentle, sibling solidarity we rarely see on screen (thou made some famous Disney movie very successful… you know which one), but still fierce! No drama, just deep, solid love. More of that, please.
If you’re looking for something that affirms the complexities of queer identity (in a positive light, and without losing the sweetness or tipping into too much pain), Heartstopper is the one. It doesn’t shout. It sort of whispers…
Trailer below as usual! (also there are 3 seasons, with 8 episodes each, so enjoy the bingeing!)
