Heartbreak High (2022 TV series)
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| Heartbreak High | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Genre | Comedy drama Teen drama |
| Created by |
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| Starring |
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| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Producers |
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| Production locations | Sydney, New South Wales |
| Cinematography | Simon Ozolins Drew English |
| Running time | 45–52 minutes |
| Production company | Fremantle Australia & NewBe[1] |
| Release | |
| Original network | Netflix |
| Original release | 14 September 2022 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related | Heartbreak High (original 1994 TV series) |
Heartbreak High is an Australian comedy drama streaming television series created for Netflix, by Hannah Carroll Chapman. It is a soft-reboot of the 1994 series first screened on Network Ten.[2][3] The series follow the students and teachers of Hartley High as they navigate racial tensions in Australia, high school romances, and all sorts of teen angst.[4] The show premiered on 14 September 2022.[5] A month after it was released, the show was renewed for a second season.[6]
The first season was met with positive critical reviews and received 15 AACTA Awards nominations, including Best Drama Series, winning six.
Premise[edit]
After a map detailing the sexual exploits of Hartley High's students is discovered graffitied on the wall of the school, all of the students whose names were on it are forced to attend a new sexual education course called the Sexual Literacy Tutorial (SLT, pronounced "sluts" by the students). The map's creator, Amerie Wadia (Ayesha Madon), becomes a social outcast after taking the fall for its co-author, Harper McLean (Asher Yasbincek), who has stopped talking to her following a tragedy at a music festival they attended.
Cast[edit]
Main[edit]
- Ayesha Madon as Amerie Wadia, a brash, working-class Indo-Australian girl who becomes a pariah at Hartley High.[7]
- James Majoos as Darren Rivers, a queer and non-binary student who befriends Amerie.
- Chloé Hayden as Quinn “Quinni” Gallagher-Jones, Darren's lesbian best friend who is autistic.[8][9]
- Asher Yasbincek as Harper McLean, a punk girl who has had a falling out with Amerie
- Thomas Weatherall as Malakai Mitchell, a bisexual Bundjalung basketball jock new to Hartley.[10]
- Will McDonald as Douglas “Ca$h” Piggott, an asexual eshay, drug dealer and food delivery driver.
- Joshua Heuston as Dustin “Dusty” Reid, a bisexual musician involved with Harper.[7]
- Gemma Chua-Tran as Sasha So, a Chinese-Australian lesbian.
- Bryn Chapman-Parish as Spencer “Spider” White, the class clown.
- Sherry-Lee Watson as Missy Beckett, an Indigenous student involved with Sasha.
- Brodie Townsend as Anthony “Ant” Vaughn, an affable, big-hearted student.
- Chika Ikogwe as Josephine “Jojo” Obah, English and SLT’s teacher at Hartley High.
- Scott Major as Peter Rivers, Darren's father, who reprises his role from the 1994 series.
- Rachel House as Principal Stacy "Woodsy" Woods, the performatively woke school principal at Hartley High.
Recurring and notable guest stars[edit]
- Isabella Mistry as Chaka Cardenes, who reprises her role as a Salvadoran-Australian from the 1994 series.
- Ben Oxenbould as Justin McLean, Harper's dad.
- Justin Smith as Jim the Maintenance Man.
- Sandy Sharma as Huma Wadia, Amerie's mother.
- Tom Wilson, Kye McMaster and Ari McCarthy as Chook, Tilla and Jayden, Ca$h's friends.
- Maggie Dence as Nan, Ca$h's grandmother.
- Stephen Hunter as Coach Arkell.
- Jeremy Lindsay Taylor as Kurt Peterson, who reprises his role from the 1994 series.
- Natalie Tran as Rhea Brown, a local author.
Episodes[edit]
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date [11] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Map Bitch" | Gracie Otto | Hannah Carroll Chapman | 14 September 2022 | |
| Amerie becomes a social pariah at Hartley High after the "incest map", a detailed diagram of which students have been sexually involved, is discovered and she is revealed as the culprit. Harper, Amerie's longtime best friend and co-creator of the map, starts ignoring her and punches her when she tries to talk to her, but doesn't explain why. The students who appear on the map are placed in a mandatory sex education class headed by Principal Woods and English teacher JoJo as a result. Darren sleeps on the street after clashing with their stepfather over their non-binary identity and eventually seeks refuge at their father Scott's house. Quinn and Darren befriend Amerie and take her to a party, where she kisses her crush, Dusty. | |||||
| 2 | "Renaissance Titties" | Gracie Otto | Matthew Whittet & Hannah Carroll Chapman | 14 September 2022 | |
| 3 | "Eetsway" | Neil Sharma | Marieke Hardy | 14 September 2022 | |
| 4 | "Rack Off" | Neil Sharma | Meyne Wyatt | 14 September 2022 | |
| 5 | "Bin Chicken" | Adam Murfet & Jessie Oldfield | Thomas Wilson-White | 14 September 2022 | |
| 6 | "Angeline" | Adam Murfet & Jessie Oldfield | Natesha Somasundaram | 14 September 2022 | |
| 7 | "The Sheriff" | Gracie Otto | Megan Palinkas & Matthew Whittet | 14 September 2022 | |
| 8 | "Three of Swords" | Gracie Otto | Hannah Carroll Chapman | 14 September 2022 | |
Production[edit]
The series was announced in December 2020, and filming began in November 2021.[12][13][14]
The TV series was mostly filmed in the suburbs of Marouba and Matraville of New South Wales between late 2021 and early 2022.[15]
A second season was announced on 19 October 2022.[16][17]
Reception[edit]
Audience viewership[edit]
Heartbreak High debuted at number six on Netflix's Top 10 TV English titles for the tracking week of 19–25 September 2022 with 18.25 million hours viewed.[18] On the following week, it climbed to number five and garnered 14.88 million viewing hours.[19] The series remained in the top 10 for the third week, placing at number eight with 9.48 million viewing hours.[20]
Critical response[edit]
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave the series an approval rating of 100%, with an average rating of 7.3 out of 10, based on nine critics.[21] On the review website IMDb, the series holds an average score of 7.7 out of 10, as of October 15, 2022.[22] The show received praise for its racial, sexuality, gender and neurodivergent representation, realism towards modern teenhood, costumes and visuals.[23][24][25] It was also positively compared to other popular modern teen dramas (which viewers found it very similar to), including Euphoria, Never Have I Ever and Sex Education. Alex Henderson of The Conversation said that the show addressed serious topics like substance abuse, discrimination or youth crime, but still uses comical moments and avoids cliché moments whilst showing mistakes made by the characters.[26] Mitchell Adams of The Sydney Morning Herald commented on the representation of autism, saying "scenes where Quinni feels overwhelmed just sitting on a bus, or being at a party while forcing herself to mask how she feels in order to better fit in and not upset people, depict a pain neurodivergent people know all too well".[27] Collider named the series as one of the best new TV shows of 2022.[28]
Accolades[edit]
| Award | Year | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AACTA Awards | 2022 | Best Drama Series | Heartbreak High | Nominated | [29] |
| Best Lead Actor in Drama | James Majoos | Nominated | |||
| Best Supporting Actor in Drama | Thomas Weatherall | Won | |||
| Best Direction in Drama or Comedy | Gracie Otto | Nominated | |||
| Best Screenplay in Television | Hannah Carroll Chapman (for "Map Bitch") | Won | |||
| Best Cinematography in Television | Simon Ozolins (for "Map Bitch") | Nominated | |||
| Best Costume Design in Television | Rita Carmody (for "Map Bitch") | Won | |||
| Best Production Design in Television | Marni Kornhauser (for "Map Bitch") | Nominated | |||
| Best Casting | Amanda Mitchell | Nominated | |||
| Audience Choice Award for Best Television Series | Heartbreak High | Won | |||
| Audience Choice Award for Best Actor | Bryn Chapman-Parish | Won | |||
| Thomas Weatherall | Nominated | ||||
| Audience Choice Award for Best Actress | Chloé Hayden | Won | |||
| Ayesha Madon | Nominated | ||||
| Asher Yasbincek | Nominated | ||||
| AACTA International Awards | 2023 | Best Drama Series | Heartbreak High | Nominated | [30] |
| Best Actor in a Series | Thomas Weatherall | Nominated | |||
| GLAAD Media Awards | 2023 | Outstanding New TV Series | Heartbreak High | Pending | [31] |
References[edit]
- ^ Kanter, Jake (7 December 2020). "Netflix Reboots Australia's "Iconic" Young Adult Series 'Heartbreak High'". Deadline. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
- ^ Ma, Wenlei (23 November 2021). "Heartbreak High 2022: Netflix reveals cast, characters and story for reboot". news.com.au. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
- ^ Slatter, Sean (22 November 2021). "Cast revealed for Netflix's 'Heartbreak High'". IF Magazine.
- ^ Malas, Rhianna (16 September 2022). "How 'Heartbreak High' Adapts Its Reboot For Modern Audiences". Collider. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
- ^ Pullar, Jess (2 August 2022). "Netflix Just Dropped The First Trailer & Release Date For The 'Heartbreak High' Reboot". Marie Claire.
- ^ "Heartbreak High: Australian hit renewed for a second season on Netflix". The Guardian. 21 October 2022.
- ^ a b "Meet the Cast of Netflix's Heartbreak High". Netflix. 21 November 2021.
- ^ "Autistic actor Chloe Hayden lands role in "Heartbreak High" remake". Living on the Spectrum. 22 November 2021.
- ^ Zadro, Zara; Sargeant, Thomas (12 September 2022). "Smart, sexy, and very Sydney". Honi Soit. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ "Heartbreak High reboot to feature First Nations characters". National Indigenous Television. 24 November 2021.
- ^ "Shows A-Z – Heartbreak High (Netflix)". The Futon Critic. 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
- ^ Ma, Wenlei (23 November 2021). "Heartbreak High 2022: Netflix reveals cast, characters and story for reboot". news.com.au.
- ^ "Netflix announces Heartbreak High reboot for 2022: 'We haven't had a teen show like it since'". The Guardian. 6 December 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
- ^ Ramachandran, Naman (7 December 2020). "Netflix Sets Reboot of Australian Young Adult Series 'Heartbreak High'". Variety. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
- ^ Pullar, Jess (7 October 2022). "This Is Where Netflix's 'Heartbreak High' Reboot Was *Actually* Filmed". Elle Australia. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
- ^ "Be Still My Beating Heart - Netflix Announces Heartbreak High Season 2" (Press release). Netflix Media Center. 19 October 2022.
- ^ Frater, Patrick (19 October 2022). "Netflix Gives Second Season to Australia's 'Heartbreak High'". Variety.
- ^ "Netflix Global Top 10". Netflix. 25 September 2022. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
- ^ "Netflix Global Top 10". Netflix. 2 October 2022. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
- ^ "Netflix Global Top 10". Netflix. 9 October 2022. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
- ^ "Heartbreak High: Season 1 (2022)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Heartbreak High". IMDb. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
- ^ Couper, Elena (27 September 2022). "The best looks from season one of Heartbreak High". Vogue Australia. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
- ^ Ruben, Emma (3 September 2022). "Heartbreak High is back with First Nations mob in front and behind the camera". National Indigenous Times. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
- ^ Henderson, Alex (26 September 2022). "Heartbreak High is a bright new piece of television". The New Daily. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
- ^ Henderson, Alex. "Teenage misfits, messy emotions and joyous discussions on consent: Heartbreak High is a bright new piece of television". The Conversation. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
- ^ Adams, Mitchell (21 September 2022). "Heartbreak High has the best representation of autism I've ever seen". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
- ^ Kutschker, Eden (13 December 2022). "10 New TV Shows From 2022 To Binge Before The Year Ends". Collider. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
- ^ "Leah Purcell is four-midable as Elvis, Mystery Road dominate AACTA award nominations". Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- ^ Shackleton, Liz (15 December 2022). "'The Banshees Of Inisherin', 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' Head Nominations For Australia's AACTA International Awards". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
- ^ Jones, Marcus (18 January 2023). "2023 GLAAD Media Awards Full Film and TV Nominations: 'Bros,' 'TÁR,' 'EEAAO,' and More". IndieWire. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
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