Heartstopper - First two episodes

Heartstopper is a light-hearted queer teen series, fun to watch and gives a platform to young starting talents.Heartstopper is a popular comic book series by British author Alice Oseman. The Netflix adaptation was released last week and so far it is exactly what I expected. A simple, light and particularly cute series about the love story of teenagers Charlie and Nick.

It's fantastic to recognize yourself in characters on television. That is the only reason why series like this will always be worth making.

There isn't a whole lot to say about the plot of Heartstopper. The story follows Charlie (Joe Locke), a teenage boy who has recently come out at his all-boys school and falls in love with rugby player Nick (Kit Connor, His Dark Materials). It's not really about anything more, which is fine, but also my point of criticism. Even though the Heartstopper comic series now has around 1000 pages, it is and remains a comic. The story is thin and you go through it quickly. I think it is very ambitious to make eight half-hour episodes. In my opinion it could have been a better one and a half hour film. I think the story would have come out better then.

Heartstopper is wonderfully British, I always like that. It is also very nice how the animation has been incorporated into the series as an extra effect and hint at the comics. It is clear that the author is closely involved in the series and that the story is dear to her. The set-up is also very simple and requires little fuss. The shots really give me that cartoon feeling, like the shot in the studio in the first episode. That was very nicely done.

Almost the entire cast consists of newcomers. For most cast members, Heartstopper is one of the few credits, or even the only credit, they have on their IMDB page to date. Exceptions to this are Kit Connor (His Dark Materials) and Sebastian Croft (Game of Thrones and Penny Dreadful). The fact that almost all of them are inexperienced actors is noticeable in the acting performances. However, this is not a problem with a series like this. I think it's fantastic that these young actors and actresses are given the opportunity to develop themselves on a platform like Netflix. It reminds me of teen series like Skam and Skins, where the acting wasn't always that good, but the cast was always the right age and developed further later.



The newcomers introduced in Heartstopper, in addition to protagonist Joe Locke and the two names mentioned above, include: William Gao, Yasmin Finney, Corinna Brown, Kizzy Edgell, Tobie Donovan, Jenny Walser, Cormac Hyde-Corrin and Rhea Norwood. The cast is joined by the great Olivia Colman (The Crown, Broadchurch) and Fisayo Akinade (A Very English Scandal), among others. I especially want to give a shout-out to Jenny Walser and Fisayo Akinade, they play very nice roles that have already made me laugh out loud a few times.

Heartstopper is cute, fun and sweet to watch. In English I would say 'lovely, wholesome and warming'. It just gives you a nice warm feeling. However, the acting is certainly not always good and I think the story is a bit thin for four hours of material. I'm convinced it will remain fun to watch, but that doesn't mean it couldn't have been a shorter film.

An excellent 7.0! Not a high flyer, nice for in between. The representation is of course always a plus, especially for teenagers who are often still looking for themselves. It's fantastic to recognize yourself in characters on television. That is the only reason why series like this will always be worth making.