Rummaging through the nostalgia bin for new ideas has become the latest trend for streaming giants. Netflix’s Heartbreak High is no different — this teenage drama, set in the fictional school Hartley High, is based on a 1994 Australian show of the same name.
Created by Michael Jenkins and written by Hannah Carroll Chapman, the reboot is a mix of Netflix’s Sex Education and HBO’s Euphoria, with some Aussie slang words thrown in. It works in more ways than one with its set of memorable characters. Here’s why Heartbreak High should be on your Netflix watchlist now:
Perfect blend of representation
Running for eight episodes with a lot of characters, Heartbreak High manages to give every character the amount of screentime that’s necessary for us to get attached to them. The show explores how the characters deal with their racial, sexual and gender identities without being preachy.
At the centre of Heartbreak High are high schoolers. Darren (James Majoos), who is queer and nonbinary, is an amazing friend to Quinni (Chloe Hayden), who is neurodivergent. Both Darren and Quinni face challenges in their personal lives. Darren has to deal with their stepfather and mother, finding it hard to come up with their preferred pronouns. Quinni struggles to make her girlfriend understand the roadblocks that come with being neurodivergent. Hayden’s portrayal of Quinni is the first time a neurodivergent actor plays a neurodivergent character in an Australian series.
Two First Nations characters (indigenous people) — Missy (Sherry-Lee Watson) and Malakai (Thomas Weatherall) — make up a huge part of the show. Both Watson and Weatherall come from indigenous communities in real life.
An engaging plot
Amerie, a South Asian teen (played by Ayesha Madon), and Harper (played by Asher Yasbincek) are like typical highschool outcasts at first glance, but there is more to them. The two best friends start an ‘incest wall’ outlining the sex lives of their peers, which soon gets found out and leads to the main plot of the series. Later, Harper stops talking to Amerie and the reason is revealed at the end of the last episode.
Students of Hartley High isolate Amerie because the blame of the ‘incest wall’ falls on her, forcing the school to start a programme to educate the teens about sex, consent and more. There are various romantic subplots in the show as well, all of which make for a binge-worthy watch.
Imperfect protagonists and grey characters
No one at Hartley High is perfect. Amerie and Harper often remind us of the mean girl stereotype as they punch each other in the face and make friends take sides. Dusty (played by Josh Heuston) is your typical highschool heartthrob but with a difference — he actually goes to therapy and doesn’t shy away from talking about it. Quite like Devi from Never Have I Ever, the teens of Hartley High have their own issues to deal with.
Social issues
In line with the original Heartbreak High (1994), the reboot takes a serious look at social issues like racial discrimination by cops. It doesn’t hesitate to show a student shouting ‘ACAB’ (a derogatory term used to refer to racist cops). Another underlying plot of the show also examines how neurodivergence, while accepted at first, soon becomes an issue for a neurotypical individual, showing the stark reality that acceptance is a grey area.
Parental support
In more instances than one, Heartbreak High resorts to the teens actually going to their parents about their problems rather than going through it alone. What teen dramas often gloss over is the fact that even though teenagers are going through a plethora of problems, their parents will always try their best to understand. Heartbreak High provides a fresh take on the typical parental figures who give their teens the chance to figure out the world on their own and still support them when they need it the most.
