Euphoria is an HBO series created by Sam Levinson (Assassination Nation).
It is an adaptation of an Israeli miniseries.
It stars Zendaya and we recommend it for its bravery and daring
Plot
A girl just out of rehab tries to rebuild her life in high school.
The Series
There are two seasons. If the first one is good, the second one is even better. One of the best visuals you can see on television. However, it is diluted by a truly brilliant presentation that, evidently, it feels incapable of maintaining throughout.
Daring, very controversial and it even tricks us. A series about adolescence, life’s dangers and watching life pass by from the sidelines (the euphoria that gives the series its title) promising a more reflective, moral and appropriate discourse than the somewhat cheap “moralizing” which it at first seems it will not sink to but then unfailingly falls into.
Mr. Sam Levinson had already surprised us, but here he impresses us again with another Wild Nation, just without the fictional element: that’s what it comes down to and that’s what it is, even if we don’t like it that much. There is good cinema (we know it is a series) and the visual ideas are attractive, sometimes even spectacular, it has superb rhythm as a whole and in its separate parts and some episodes (like the Ferris wheel in the first season or the pilot itself) are apotheosic.
The transgressive elements, it must be said, disappear bit by bit.
All the same, highly recommended for its great and undeniable successes with regard to the editing.
An earthquake of emotions that changes from episode to episode.
It has its high points and low points, like the protagonists – interesting characters who, little by little, return to their archetypes.
Clearly in defense of a new sexuality and its discourse.
It takes sides on a social level, and touches upon different perspectives.
Exceptional editing (it is worth it just for the parallels that are created, especially in the last two episodes of the second season).
That said, it may not convince either the most amoral nor the most moral among us.
One of the best things you can see on television these days.
Our Opinion
A resounding “don’t miss it”.
Series Reviews
“[2nd Season Review]: For all the ways ‘Euphoria’ has improved as an ensemble show, it remains most narratively dexterous and fulfilling when focused on Rue’s addiction (…) Zendaya continues to excel” Lovia Gyarkye: The Hollywood Reporter
“[2nd Season Review]: [It] deserves your attention (…) Blazing with creativity and screen-popping visuals, [It] is a series with frightening and chilling insights into the world of many teenagers (…) Rating: ???½ (out of 4)” Richard Roeper: Chicago Sun-Times
“[2nd Season Review]: The more you watch, the more the show’s aesthetic pretensions begin to grate (…) They’re trying too hard, stretching for the scuzzily sublime but instead getting lost in tedious and confusing abstraction” Richard Lawson: Vanity Fair
