One Line Review: First season kick starts the trio with intense teen drama and itching suspense.
Youtube Trailer Sex Education Season 1
Starring: Asa Butterfield, Emma Mackey, Ncuti Gatwa
Director: Laurie Nunn
Release Date: 11 January 2019
Introduction
Let’s talk about sex! The Netflix series developed by Laurie Nunn is all about the most beautiful minor matter in the world. In the middle of it all is an uptight teenager who suddenly becomes the therapist of his no less insecure classmates.
What’s it all about?
Living with his mother Jean ( Gillian Anderson ) is always a challenge for the sensitive Otis (“Hugo Cabret” star Asa Butterfield ). As a relationship and sex therapist, she is constantly trying to initiate intimate conversations and never minced words. In search of the toilet, jeans changing lovers constantly burst into Otis’ room. And despite his extensive theoretical knowledge of love affairs, the young person finds it difficult to explore his own sexuality. Satisfying himself is a horror to him.
When one day he unconsciously injects more self-confidence into Adam ( Connor Swindells ), the son of the school principal who suffers from erectile problems, the perky Maeve (expressive: Emma Mackey ) suggests a strange-sounding, but tempting offer: Why not just do it regularly Solve classmates’ sex problems? While she wants to take care of the finances, the empathetic Otis should shine with his technical knowledge. The start of this unusual business model is not going well. But the two soon found “customers” whom the young “therapist” can actually help. At the same time, Otis quickly begins to feel more for his business partner.
Cast and supporting actor making top notch series
There are other supporting characters who do enjoy better treatment during the season. Eric (Ncuti Gatwa), Adam (Connor Swindells), Aimee (Aimee Lou Wood), and Lily (Tanya Reynolds) star in some very special subplots. Also, the series expands its world and broadens inclusion with the introduction of some non-binary people like Cal (Dua Saleh), who Jackson (Kedar Williams-Stirling) connects with very soon. Secondly, adults are not left behind and also gain importance. The surprise in this aspect is given by Mr. Groff (Alistair Petrie), a character that we already believed to be extinct and who, nevertheless, stars in some of the best moments, thus establishing himself as one of the unexpected stars in this new batch of episodes. Who was going to say it?
Talks about the real issues young ones are concerned about
The premise may seem a bit constructed, but it allows series creator Nunn to map the whole range of young people’s uncertainties. Especially in puberty, everyone has to struggle with worries and doubts. A finding that “Sex Education” illustrates in an amusing and light-footed manner. Nobody falls from the sky as a master of seduction. Rather, you have to try things out and allow mistakes. Because only by gaining experience can blockages and fears be overcome.
In its refreshingly unaffected sex scenes, the British series shows that awkward contortions and embarrassing moments are part of lovemaking and thus cushions exaggerated expectations. The new Netflix production is pervaded by black humor and coarse, slippery language, although not every gag hits the mark. Here and there you want a little less rough brushstrokes. And some coarse interludes – such as the vomiting orgy at a party – you could have given yourself well and gladly.
The character and story movement
With each new episode, however, the protagonists receive new, exciting facets, unimagined developments open up that draw the viewer into the world of the story. You quickly feel connected to Otis, played sympathetically by Asa Butterfield, and his concerns, and you can also look forward to the complex drawing of the self-confident Maeve. The fact that some of the initially clichéd supporting characters – Otis’ gay friend Eric ( Ncuti Gatwa ), Adam, who was introduced as a dull bully, and the athletic school representative Jackson ( Kedar Williams-Stirling ) – reveal surprising sides is also praiseworthy.
Although “Sex Education” focuses on youthful sensitivities and mainly teenagers are at the center, older viewers should also find pleasure in the series. Otis’ mother Jean, embodied by Gillian Anderson with a visible joy in playing, is an amusing adult character with a tendency towards slightly overbearing behavior, on which Nunn reflects on the relationship between parents and children.
Conclusion
Should the remaining four episodes also follow the path of the first four episodes viewed for this review, one can congratulate Netflix on a lively and entertaining format that often convincingly balances between coarse comedy, clever insights, serious and touching moments.
