It is difficult to dislike Heartstopper, a British adolescent drama that debuted on Netflix on April 22 and is based on a real event. In the film adaptation of Alice Oseman’s popular young adult graphic book of the same name, Charlie (Joe Locke) is a school misfit who aspires to find love with a rugby player who seems to be straight (Kit Connor).
Moreover, fans of Oseman’s book series couldn’t wait for Netflix to adapt Charlie and Nick’s adorable love story into a television series, and fans were instantly intrigued and optimistic.
15. The Half of It
- Director: Alice Wu
- Cast: Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer, Alexxis Lemire
- IMDb Rating: 6.9/10
High school romance is handled tenderly and earnestly in Alice Wu’s Netflix teen rom-com. This excellent portrayal of lesbian pining’s pain is both unique and universal in emotion. The Half of It shows straight-talking Chinese Americans.
When Ellie (Leah Lewis), a student with the same scholarly bookishness as Charlie Spring from Heartstopper, decides to write Aster (Alexxis Lemire) love letters on his behalf, she must confront her emotions.
The Half of It challenges the gay best buddy cliche while Ellie pours her heart out on the page. In a reversal of the typical GBF trope, Ellie and Paul (Daniel Diemer), for whom Ellie is writing, become good friends.
14. Hearts Beat Loud
- Director: Brett Haley
- Cast: Nick Offerman, Kiersey Clemons, Blythe Danner, Toni Collette
- IMDb Rating: 6.9/10
Hearts Beat Loud is a fun watch that might help you fill the Heartstopper-sized void in your life. The father-daughter connection is at the center of this American comedy-drama (played by Nick Offerman and Kiersey Clemons) and how their friendship grows as they establish a musical team.
The daughter character Sam falls in love with another lady (Sasha Lane) in this charming film, which doesn’t make a huge issue out of it.
Another reason to adore this endearing movie is the soundtrack, which pairs Mitski’s ethereal tunes with the subdued framing of sapphic yearning. It promotes making the most of what you have and pursuing happiness in the now. It is profoundly gratifying.
13. Skins
- Creator: Guy Nattiv
- Cast: Jamie Bell, Danielle Macdonald, Daniel Henshall
- IMdb Rating: 6.8/10
Skins is populated by a wide variety of characters, with each new generation bringing with it new characters and stories.
Numerous storylines emphasize LGBTQ+ themes and relationships throughout the show’s run, including the coming-out stories of Emily Fitch and Naomi Campbell and the complex relationship between Maxxie Oliver and James.
Similar to Heartstopper, Skins explores the complexities of friendships and romantic relationships while providing a sophisticated and uncensored look into the lives of young people.
Both programs realistically portray the difficulties that young people face, such as the difficulties of coming out and dealing with LGBTQ+ relationships as teenagers in a society that may be harsh and unforgiving.
12. Water Lilies
- Director: Céline Sciamma
- Cast: Pauline Acquart, Louise Blachère, Adèle Haenel
- IMdb Rating: 6.7/10
Water Lilies came before Portrait of a Lady on Fire. The first film by Céline Sciamma is a developing study of teenage love that follows Marie (Pauline Acquart) as she develops a crush on synchronized swimmer Floriane (Adèle Haenel), who is older and a teen.
The French couple’s developing gay hunger is compassionately conveyed in a few languages throughout a summer of sapphic desire.
Instead, this exquisite drama’s stillness resembles the fragile romance in Heartstopper and is driven by the concentration of youthful eyes. Water Lilies is a chic and touching portrait of young lesbian love, capturing the frailties of their connection and cutting them with the sting of chlorine in the air.
11. We Are Who We Are
- Creator: Sean Conway, Paolo Giordano, Luca Guadagnino
- Cast: Jack Dylan Grazer, Jordan Kristine Seamón, Chloë Sevigny
- IMDb Ratings: 7.3/10
We Are Who We Are is a Luca Guadagnino film (Call Me by Your Name). The first episode of the first season presents Fraser’s (Jack Dylan Grazer) perspective.
Caitlin (Jordan Kristine Seamón) recounts the same story. Commander Sara Wilson and her son Fraser (Chlo Sevigny) move to Italy (Painted Nails, Bleached Hair). Sara’s wife, Alice, is present. Fraser has never kissed anybody, as everyone used to hate him. However, Fraser is not sure if he likes men or women. Only Caitlin observes and has empathy for him.
Relationships, adolescence, sexuality, Islamic fundamentalism, and the needs and disappointments of gender-fluid adolescents are discussed.
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10. Everything Sucks!
- Creators: Ben York Jones, Michael Mohan
- Cast: Jahi Di’Allo Winston, Peyton Kennedy, Patch Darragh
- IMDb Rating: 7.5/10
Everything Sucks is nostalgic and guaranteed to transport you back in time. transports viewers back to the 1990s. In this series, high schoolers deal with adolescence, friendships, and first loves. A sincere devotion to the time period appears, replete with vintage clothing and antiquated electronics.
One of the main characters, Kate Messner, goes through a touching coming-out process. She finds herself and accepts herself as her path develops. Her feelings of fear, perplexity, and, ultimately, acceptance of her sexuality are gently and authentically portrayed. Additionally, real people and real relationships capture the wide range of LGBTQ+ experiences.
09. Beautiful Thing
- Creator: Hettie Macdonald
- Cast: Glen Berry, Linda Henry, Scott Neal
- IMDb Rating: 7.6/10
Beautiful Thing is an example of a feel-good portrayal of queer youth that existed more than 25 years before Heartstopper, with its characters being bashful Jamie (Glen Berry) and football-crazy Ste (Scott Neal), both the same age as Heartstopper’s Charlie and Nick.
This sweet coming-of-age story, which is set in the hot summer of 1996 on a South London housing estate, has become a beloved British rite of passage movie.
A hopeful portrayal of adolescent gay love, directed by Hettie Macdonald (later one of the filmmakers of Normal People), provided a turning point for queer viewers in the 1990s with this moving study of self-discovery. It is still relevant today.
08. Never Have I Ever
- Creator: Lang Fisher, Mindy Kaling
- Cast: Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Poorna Jagannathan, Darren Barnet
- IMDb Rating: 7.9/10
Devi, portrayed by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, is the daughter of an Indian couple who relocated to the United States before her birth.
Devi’s ambitions for her senior year include popularity and relationships. Her closest friends, Fabiola (Lee Rodriguez) and Eleanor (Ramona Young) are both on the verge of sexuality and love. Unexpected occurrences are inevitable. However, the tale emphasizes opportunity and equality for everyone.
07. The Way He Looks
- Creator: Daniel Ribeiro
- Cast: Ghilherme Lobo, Fabio Audi, Tess Amorim
- IMDb Rating: 7.9/10
Two young homosexual men riding the same bike downhill with the wind blowing through their hair and smiles painted on their cheeks capture the lightheartedness of young queer liberation in Daniel Ribeiro’s sparkling Brazilian film The Way He Looks.
This endearing tale, built around uplifting lessons about teen sexuality and body image, is the very definition of niceness in cinema. The Way He Looks centers on blind adolescent Leonardo (Ghilherme Lobo), who undergoes a process of self-acceptance after meeting charming new classmate Gabriel (Fabio Audi).
06. Love, Victor
- Director: Isaac Aptaker, Elizabeth Berger
- Cast: Michael Cimino, Rachel Hilson, Anthony Turpel
- IMDb Rating: 8.0/10
The novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli inspired Love, Victor. Victor (Michael Cimino) attends the same high school as Simon (Nick Robinson): Creekwood High School. In a manner identical to the film, Victor seeks guidance from Simon, who has graduated.
However, Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger serial stars Rachel Hilson, Anthony Turpel, Bebe Wood, Mason Gooding, and George Sear (This is Us). There are two seasons on Hulu.
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05. The Fosters
- Creator: Bradley Bredeweg, Peter Paige
- Cast: Teri Polo, Sherri Saum, Hayden Byerly, David Lambert
- IMDb Rating: 8.0/10
The Fosters is a drama series that aired from 2013 to 2018 and had five seasons in total. It followed a varied family of adopted and biological children who were raised by a loving same-sex couple. The family faces numerous challenges and triumphs throughout its run, touching on issues including adoption, race, and mental health.
The Fosters features a loving same-sex couple, Stef Adams Foster and Lena Adams Foster, who serve as the foundation of the family.
he program also explores children’s sexual orientation and gender identity, following Jude Adam Foster as he explores his own sexuality.
04. Atypical
- Creator: Robia Rashid
- Cast: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Keir Gilchrist, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Michael Rapaport
- IMDb Rating: 8.2/10
Fans and critics of the show have praised it as heartwarming and enlightening. Sam Gardner, a teenager on the autism spectrum, is the focus of the coming-of-age storyline in Atypical as he experiences love, friendship, and personal growth.
The show succeeded in highlighting Sam’s search for independence and his developing understanding of relationships over the course of four seasons.
Both Atypical and Heartstopper have a strong emphasis on real people and relationships, which helps viewers identify with the protagonists and their circumstances. Atypical explores themes of self-acceptance and progress in a manner similar to Heartstopper, highlighting the importance of self-awareness and embracing one’s identity.
03. Young Royals
- Creator: Lisa Ambjörn, Lars Beckung, Camilla Holter
- Cast: Edvin Ryding, Omar Rudberg, Malte Gårdinger
- IMDb Rating: 8.3/10
Young Royals, a Swedish television series in the spirit of Heartstopper, has all the qualities to attract viewers. The original Netflix series focuses on the lives of LGBTQ+ adolescents as well as plot twists. Young Royals, on the other hand, tells the tale of Prince Wilhelm.
He falls in love with classmate Simon (Omar Rudberg) while attending the exclusive Hillerska boarding school. For the first time in his life, he can make independent decisions and break out from his protected environment.
Wilhelm discovers, with a new view on life, that he is the apparent successor to the realm. Moreover, after developing emotions for Simon and gaining new friends, Wilhelm must choose between love and duty.
02. Sex Education
- Creator: Laurie Nunn
- Cast: Asa Butterfield, Gillian Anderson, Ncuti Gatwa
- IMDb Rating: 8.3/10
Otis Thompson (Asa Butterfield) and his sex therapist mother are followed about their home in Sex Education (Gillian Anderson). Otis has never had sexual activity, but his mother’s history makes him an expert.
He is often contacted by coworkers who are unclear about their sexual orientation. Otis and Maeve (Emma Mckey) establish an underground sexual education clinic. Laurie Nunn has made the show. This Netflix show investigates adolescent relationships and sexual orientation.
01. Skam
- Director: Julie Andem
- Cast: Josefine Frida Pettersen, Iman Meskini, Ulrikke Falch
- IMDb Rating: 8.6/10
Being a fan of Skam was essentially a full-time job. Julie Andem’s shame-titled Norwegian adolescent drama explored the taboos that have an impact on Oslo high school students’ lives, including sexuality, eating disorders, and religion.
The third season of Skam centers on the relationship between Isak (Tarjei Sandvik Moe) and Even (Henrik Holm), which is rife with teen angst in its portrayal of coming out.
The show was praised for its real storylines as well as for its clever interactive design, which saw characters post frequently to their own social media profiles and surprise appearances of new episode clips. Skam tops the list of being the among the best Shows Like Heartstopper.
