‘Young Royals’ Season 1 Review

When it comes to portraying the teen experience, American TV would do right to take note from Young Royals. The new Netflix Swedish series is a heartfelt and refreshing representation of what it’s like to be a teenager in the modern world. Indeed, its grounded approach to overarching themes of first love, sexuality, familial duty, societal obligation, class, and self-realisation is what places it levels above other teen tv series currently available to stream.

Young Royals is unique in that it presents intertwined coming-of-age stories for its ensemble of characters at the prestigious boarding school Hillerska. There’s August, second cousin to Sweden’s royal family, whose time at Hillerska (and the luxuries that come with it) is a lifeline he’ll protect at all costs. Felice struggles to be the perfect daughter that her mother pressures her to be. Sara wishes she were more like her rich and noble peers. And at the heart of the series: a love story between Wilhelm, Sweden’s Crown Prince—who is initially enrolled at Hillerska as a result of PR-related mission to maintain the Royal Family’s image of propriety and stability—and Simon, Sara’s brother, who dreams of a life beyond his small town.

Wilhelm and Simon’s story of first love, coming out, and the corollary conflict that rises when one must choose between oneself and one’s duty is a slow-burn of angst and confusion. Though it’s a queer love story that we’ve seen before, what sets it apart is Young Royals’s commitment to authenticity. There are no cheap plot points of character miscommunication. There’s no drama for drama’s sake. And, most importantly, there’s no shame. Yes, Wilhelm spends the first half of the series denying his attraction to Simon, but, at the same time, he can’t help but obsess over him, stealing glances, risking secret pinkie touches, keeping him as close as he can and for as long as he can.

Indeed, there’s a tender restraint in the way Young Royals spotlights Wihelm and Simon’s growing relationship. And it feels real, which is largely attributed to Edvin Ryding and Omar Rudberg’s understated yet resonant performances as Wilhelm and Simon, respectively. It also helps that actors look like high school boys. In fact, the casting is entirely age-appropriate—nobody has ridiculously chiseled bodies and everyone has acne—which is a blessing, not just for the show but for the teen tv genre that elsewhere seems blithely unaware of what teens actually look like.

Another defining characteristic of Young Royals is its soundtrack, which boasts a collection of mainly European-made pop / hip-hop / electronic music. The contemporary soundtrack is a stark contrast to the boarding school setting and the series’ overall exploration of traditional ideals—and that’s a good thing. It amplifies the rigidity of centuries-old institutions and how the youth of today are increasingly combatting, moving against, or redefining the rules that have been established by them.

Which seems to be the show’s overarching through-line: in the face of tradition, revolution, in theory, is inspiring, even needed, but, in practice, is more easily said than done. And yet Young Royals firmly says yes to revolution and to change. Let’s hope Netflix agrees and greenlights a second season.

Young Royals is now available to stream on Netflix.

What did you think of Young Royals? Tell us in the comments below!

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