REVIEW #91 Sex Education (2019-present)

Sex Education is a Netflix original comedy series following socially awkward Otis, who may not have much experience in the lovemaking department but living with his sex therapist mum Jean means he gives great advice on the topic. He begins using this unwanted knowledge to help his fellow school mates with their embarrassing sex problems. 

CAST & THE ACTING 

Asa Butterfield leads the cast as Otis and perfectly captures the socially awkward teen. He nicely portrays the transition from almost an outcast at school to becoming one of the most well known people there and provides some great humour along the way. He also does very well during the more emotional moments on the show, as he proved in season 3, making the character really relatable to the audience. Emma Mackey plays Maeve his partner in the school therapy business and she does well to portray a character with so many layers and has to show a real range in her acting ability in order to play a character like Maeve convincingly. Ncuti Gatwa is one of the stand out actors in the show, he has so much charisma and injects a lot of the humour. Similarly to Butterfield he also does well in the emotional moments, his character is gay and there are issues that he has to deal with as a result. Those moments really connect with you as a viewer and you feel so much sympathy for his character Eric and that’s a credit to Gatwa’s performance. Gillian Anderson plays Otis’s mum Jean and I couldn’t think of a better person for the job, it is such a perfect casting! She showcases her acting experience, delivering comedy, emotion and a really dynamic character. There are so many other strong performances, the show really gives a lot of time to all its characters but I would be here all day highlighting them. Connor Swindell plays Adam, one of the more interesting characters on the show, Mimi Keene plays Ruby and done brilliantly in season 3! Aimee Lou Wood portrayed Aimee and is hilarious in all three seasons and Kedar Williams-Stering plays Jackson who really develops as a character in each season. A great cast and a lot of really good performances!

PLOT & THE STORYLINE 

The main storyline involves Otis and Maeve teaming up to create an underground sex clinic at the school, giving advice to their fellow students on their sexual issues in exchange for money. With Otis’s mum being a professional sex therapist Otis has picked up a lot of useful knowledge over the years but that comes with a lot of issues too. The storyline is pretty simple but creates hilarious sub plots in each episode. However what I really enjoyed about Sex Education was that they really nailed the character exploration, usually with most series they explore the main characters and leave us with so many questions regarding the side characters. Not this, we learn so much about each character, which almost connects us as the audience to each of them and as a result we get so invested in all of their individual journeys. I think this is why so many people binge watch each season in one sitting, it just gets you hooked! They also delve into the antagonists or the ‘bullies’ and show the audience why people behave like they do and give them a strong redemption arc that ends up with us loving the character. It also has a nice approach to sexuality and gender fluidity, keeping up with the times and approaching it in a way most people can enjoy and maintains that sensitivity for issues such as sexual assault.

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

I think the cinematography is pretty good in Sex Education, the way they construct their scenes is really well thought out. The opening scene for season 3 was put together really well, it was explicit sure, but I think it does sum up Sex Education pretty well. The highlight for a lot of the episodes is the scenery, I believe it’s set around wales so there is plenty of countryside that I always think looks good in film and TV. That’s a personal preference though! They also utilise colour in a lot of their scenes, I felt like the colour often reflected the mood or even the status of where they were. For example, Maeve’s caravan site often seemed quite dull and grey which could reflect how she didn’t like being there and how she felt a worse off compared to her friends. There wasn’t anything big that necessarily stood out for this category but it was nicely done nonetheless. 

OVERALL (9.2/10)

This is definitely one of my favourite series, it’s hilarious and I think they got the casting perfect for every character. All the actors are capable of making the audience laugh but are also capable of getting them emotional too, which highlights the range in their acting ability. The storyline is fun and lighthearted but makes way for some really strong character exploration that allows the series to touch upon modern issues in a really approachable way. I was trying to think of any negative aspects about this series but I just couldn’t, the only reason I would say it isn’t perfect is that the cinematography was good enough but wasn’t outstanding. But I am okay with that, we might not see visual masterpieces but we get to see a focus on each character in the series, which I really enjoyed. It wasn’t just about the main characters, everyone was involved! Definitely give this a go if you haven’t already, it’s amazing.

Thanks for reading.

Callan