REVIEW Heartbreak High – the Australian remake adapted for the present

Heartbreak High is one of the latest series you can watch on Netflix these days.

If you’re having a gap of a few days where your brain isn’t ready for slightly more complicated series, for example like Dahmer (which you can also see on Netflix), you might want to give this show a shot. Guaranteed it won’t occupy many of your neurons, and at times you might even catch yourself smiling at one of the jokes inserted here and there into the inclusive script.

Heartbreak High talks about Australian teenagers in 2022 in a very relaxed way

Before Netflix picked up the title and adapted it to current times, other directors and actors were talking about teenage problems. That was from 1994-1999, and the show quickly became a contemporary favorite. Sort of like Beverly Hills 90210, but with an Australian twist.

In 2022, Heartbreak High underwent a few changes and portrays the lives of young people in a way that fits with the slightly more permissive times we’re going through.

While we’re already used to the notion of inclusivity, it being part of the contract in the vast majority of films and shows we see these days, in Heartbreak High it all happens naturally.

Ethnic and sexual minorities are presented without being given the tragic backstory, everything unfolding in a calm tone, peppered with normalcy. In other words, it’s probably the first time I’ve seen a production that chooses to present LGBTQ+ or ethnic representative stories that don’t give you the impression that the characters are part of a cheap circus meant to trigger your feelings.

In case I made you curious and you have a little time to spare, you can watch Heartbreak High on Netflix anytime you want. Only good for a lazy weekend afternoon when you want to take a well-deserved break from drama and trouble.