SNAPSHOT
The story of two British teens, Nick Nelson and Charlie Spring, at an all-boys grammar school. Charlie, a high-strung, openly gay overthinker, and Nick, a cheerful, soft-hearted rugby player, one day are made to sit together in class. Their friendship quickly becomes something more for openly gay Charlie, but he initially does not believe he has a chance with Nick. But love works in surprising ways, and Nick is more interested in Charlie than either of them realized. Heartstopper is about love, friendship, loyalty, and mental illness. It encompasses all the small stories of Nick and Charlie’s lives that together make something larger. (synopsis courtesy IMDb)
Falling in love can be exquisitely, beautifully wonderful.
It can also be exquisitely terrifying too; in fact, it’s both those things at once often and Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper series of graphic novels, which tell heartrendingly lovely stories of queer love, romance and belonging, captures it all so perfectly that you almost have to pinch yourself to believe someone has got it all down on paper so gorgeously well.
Now the story of Charlie and Nick and their heartwarmingly enlivening romance, which began life as a webcomic and then became four graphic novels and counting – volumes 1 & 2 – volume 3 and volume 4 – is now an eight-part live action series kicking off today on Netflix.
Granted, we only have a trailer to go on but if you have read the graphic novels, and if not, you really, REALLY should, you will find much to love, even in advance about the series, highlighting as it does beautifully does what it’s like to fall in love, especially when you’re queer and there’s a whole other level of complication thrown into the mix.
It’s worth getting to know the cast and their characters via this piece in Attitude before watching the series which will be the ultimate in cosy but realistic binger viewing as we live through the unexpected romance of Charlie and Nick and discover that life can surprise in the most wonderful and joyously unforeseen of ways.
Heartstopper debuts its first full season today on Netflix.