Euphoria

HBO must have noticed how successful dark, young adult dramas have been, cuz they’re certainly jumping in feet first. With a giant stretch across the aisle to the adult-adult audience as well, Euphoria ups the ante in putting bleak teenagers on display. Think ‘Kids’ meets ‘Trainspotting’ meets ‘Varsity Blues’. When this kind of material hits the screen these days it’s usually in a watered down, poorly acted CW show. Zendaya takes the role of a sad strung out teen and brings chops, depth, and weight to her performance. Seriously though, other than the fact that she is clearly gorgeous, I can’t take my eyes off her. Her story is so sad, it’s impossible not to feel sorry for her. 

The subject matter is turned up to eleven. We’ve seen the common tropes of teenage peril before - sex, drugs, reputations, and insecurities. But much like the kids in these stories, they have been TURNT. We witness struggles with addiction, imbecilic white boys, a trans teen navigating dangerous situations, and an alarming dose of social media. There is a strange and perplexing mix of sweetness and darkness in Euphoria. I’m going to attribute that idea to the blurry show poster of a stoned Zendaya adorned with glitter and awash in pink and purple. The production quality matches the extreme yet modern standard the stories set. The visuals are neon and moody, surrounded in a metaphorically obvious shadowy atmosphere. As we see here, directors and cinematographers get a lot of fun and freedom whenever parties or drugs are happening on screen. There's a great moment where the camera delicately rolls around the set, carefully tracking and turning. The imagery gives me an impression of what the Euphoria mood board had on it - hazy neon signs, Migos, Sydney Sweenie’s Handmaids Tale sexy-voice, molly, unsolicited dick pics, and 'Clueless.' Although the drama takes itself quite seriously, there are moments that feel over the top and contrived - such as the underage drug dealer, the overly moody voiceover, and moronic boys asking 'R U A SLUT OR A PRUDE??' The whole time we kept turning to each other saying 'surely this isn't how things really are in high school right now, right....?'

Not sure if I’ll keep watching, I probably will. Anytime there are teens doing adult things on screen it freaks me out to my core, but I think I’m here for this glossy, glittery and jittery ride.