Netflix’s series Heartstopper is the adaptation of volumes one and two of Alice Oseman’s bestselling graphic novel series. The series narrates a cute love story between two high school boys Charlie Spring and Nick Nelson. The main plot takes place in an All boys Highschool. The story begins as Charlie starts developing a crush on Nick Nelson who sat next to him in his form class. The series addresses the phobia faced by the LGBTQ community in their daily lives.
What stands out
A compelling screenplay by Alice Oseman herself makes the audience binge-watch the whole series in one stretch. The casting director Daniel Edwards has done a brilliant job as each actor fits perfectly into their characters. What stood out for me was the mind-blowing performance of Joe Locke who played the character of Charlie. His performance made the audience walk through the shoes of Charlie in the entire series and empathize with the character. A line of Charlie “I hate being honest” very subtly portrays the struggle of the LGBTQIA+ community. William Gao, the actor who played the role of Tao delivered one of the best performances in the series. All the other actors have also done justice to their characters.
Good aspects
The chemistry between the main characters was outstanding that you might even forget to blink your eyes while watching their romantic scenes. There are a lot of beautiful frames throughout the series. I admired the frame which shows the school with a rainbow behind it. I loved the bright colors used in most of the frames as they created a pleasant atmosphere which is rarely seen in an LGBTQ series. The background score also elevated the mood of the series wonderfully.
Not-so-good aspects
One of the things that I did not like is the “cute animations” coming in every romantic scene. At first, I enjoyed it, but after a point it became distracting and it significantly reduced the intensity of the scene. There might be different opinions on it but I experienced difficulty in appreciating certain scenes because of the unnecessary animation effects.
Another thing I disliked was the lack of information about the character ‘Tori’ played as Charlie’s sister. I could not understand who she was as her screen space is so narrow. I think a few more scenes could be included that show sibling dynamics between Tori and Charlie.
To whom do I recommend
Overall, the series is a light-hearted romantic comedy. In the words of the writer Alice Oseman herself “It is all about those little moments in a relationship where your heart is beating and your feelings are so big”. Anyone who enjoys watching romantic comedies can give this one a try.
