Netflix struck gold with the screen adaptation of graphic novelist Charles Forsman’s series The End of the Fucking World, which got them to test the waters a second time around with his 2017 book I Am Not Okay With This. At a glance, one can spot the similarities between the characters of the two series — physically awkward yet charming teenagers with a snippy tongue; outcast of the school with a singular best friend; navigating the social quagmire of American high school and gruesome deaths that the audience can never pre-empt.
The story is of 17-year-old Sydney Novak (Sophia Lillis) who is grappling with uncontrollable rage and puberty since her father’s mysterious death a couple of years back. A loner who doesn’t know how to fit in with students with a lot of “pep”, she finds a best friend in Dina (Sofia Bryant) and Stanley (Wyatt Oleff). However, it is when her unplanned rage-filled moments lead her beyond detention to destruction through telekinesis, when we sit up and take notice.
Director Jonathan Entwistle’s familiar tropes borrowed from The End of The Fucking World are easily identifiable as the show opens with a distraught Sydney running through the street with an aghast expression on her face and blood splattered all over her dress. This coming-of-age tale finds essence in the supernatural with each 30-minute episode playing out at a speed that is mildly infuriating and suitably curiosity inducing.
In a time of increased political consciousness, it is heartening to watch a teenager attempt to titillate the janitor to break rules and then admitting to her best friend in the next scene about the death of feminism in her. Even more heartening is the effortless compassion with which Sydney’s discovery of her sexuality is dealt with. There is no hue and cry around such poignant scenes — like the one where two friends lie on a bed together and one embarasses the other by misreading the situation and going in for a kiss. The cringe-worthy embarrassment that follows is real, felt by everyone and fleeting.
Conversation is key in this show where embarrassment becomes temporary as people talk it out. Be it the mother who finally addresses her daughter’s suffering, revealing secrets about her late father that she would have preferred to keep a secret, or the best friend who doesn’t shy away from telling her she didn’t “mind the kiss”.
Oleff’s Stanley is lovable, supportive and in love with Sydney. This neighbour-cum-schoolmate is the only other person who is aware of Sydney’s telekinetic powers and helps her try and harness it. Driving her into rage to get her to use her powers creates one of the most poignant scenes in the first season of this show. He treads carefully, littering his speech with mild yet funny insults, but as he gets closer and closer to the most sensitive of her vulnerabilities, her palpable rage is followed by an impish look and laughter as he says, “You know I didn’t mean that!” He is flamboyant and unapologetic and endearing in ways first loves become when things don’t work out. He may be a jilted lover but his sense of protection towards Syd doesn’t slip even once, except when he asks, “Does he dress better than me?” The duo that appeared in the It franchise, act as the beacon that makes the show what it is, giving it much- needed warmth and candour.
One thing we definitely missed from Entwistle’s last venture with Netflix was the stellar soundtrack. There was nothing worth writing home about it except for deafening silence followed by loud and sharp blasts as our protagonist went about destroying mileposts and bedroom walls and even an entire forest. At a cursory glance, one wouldn’t remember any songs from the show and perhaps that was the intention — to let the bizarreness of the supernatural be the only takeaway from it.
As Sydney embarks on a journey to unearth the mystery behind her father’s suicide and hears of his predicament, the premise of a shadowy creature following Sydney around starts to make sense. Is it the father? Or is it a mentor who almost always shows up in tandem with the discovery of supernatural powers in a protagonist in every fictional artform. Netflix hasn’t confirmed a second season for the show yet but going by its pace and cliff-hanger of an ending, it most definitely is inevitable. If the YA genre tickles your fancy, this is a show you might not want to miss. We are glad we didn’t.
