---
title: "Heartstopper"
year: 2022
kind: "series"
canonical: "https://film.one/tv/heartstopper"
fi1m_score: 79
critics_score: 83
critics_reviews: 7
published: "2026-09-17T04:12:30.312891+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-17T04:12:59.517565+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Heartstopper (2022)

Created by Alice Oseman · MPA TV-14 · Drama

**Fi1m score: 79** · Critics 83 from 7 reviews

*In a sentence:* Eight episodes of two boys nearly holding hands, and we minded far less than we expected

> Alice Oseman’s adaptation of her own graphic novels is gentle to the point of weightlessness, and it means to be. Two easy, likeable lead performances carry it. Anyone well past school age will notice how little happens and, we suspect, keep watching anyway.

## Synopsis

Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) goes to Truham Grammar, an all-boys school, and everyone there knows he is gay because someone told them last year. He plays drums, keeps his head down, and meets a boy in the library who kisses him and then ignores him in the corridor. Then a new seating plan in form puts him next to Nick Nelson (Kit Connor), a rugby player from the year above, who says hi. His friends have views. Tao Xu (William Gao) distrusts Nick on sight, Isaac Henderson (Tobie Donovan) keeps reading, and Elle Argent (Yasmin Finney), newly moved to the girls’ school next door, meets Tara Jones (Corinna Brown) and Darcy Olsson (Kizzy Edgell). Nick asks Charlie to try out for rugby. Harry Greene (Cormac Hyde-Corrin) has opinions about that.

## Review

Alice Oseman wrote the *Heartstopper* graphic novels and has adapted them herself, which is unusual and shows. She has decided that a story about queer teenagers can be kind nearly all the way through. Nobody’s parents throw them out. The worst thing that happens in the first two episodes is a boy failing to text back. Most critics have loved it for exactly that, and we mostly agree, with one reservation we will come to: it is slight, and it means to be.

Charlie Spring is played by Joe Locke as a boy who apologises for taking up space, shoulders up, a quick smile put away before anyone can see it. Kit Connor has the harder job. Nick Nelson is a popular rugby player working something out about himself in real time, and Connor does the working out with his face rather than his lines. The moment that got us is in the first episode, in form, when Nick’s hand lands near Charlie’s on the desk and the show draws a spray of little animated sparks between them. We expected to find that twee. We found ourselves grinning at the television like fools, because Connor’s face is doing two things at once, pleased and alarmed, and the drawing is there to say what he cannot.

Those drawings come straight from Oseman’s pages: leaves, hearts, a scribble of lightning at the edge of the frame when someone’s stomach turns over. Directors Euros Lyn and Andy Newbery ration them well enough that they stay a pleasure. Diana Olifirova and Simona Susnea shoot the school in soft, even daylight, corridors and rugby pitch alike, and keep the colours to blazer blue and grass green and the pale pink of a blush. Tim Dickel and Carys Beard give Charlie a bedroom with a drum kit and band posters that looks like a room a teenager arranged rather than a designer. Adam Dee dresses everyone the way teenagers actually dress, which is to say in the same three things.

Around the leads, the friends are drawn with care. William Gao’s Tao is loud, loyal and hostile to Nick on sight, and he is the one who gets the laughs. Yasmin Finney gives Elle, newly moved to the girls’ school, a stillness nothing else in the series has. Corinna Brown and Kizzy Edgell, as Tara and Darcy, are already a couple when we meet them, and their story runs alongside the main one like a quieter version of it. Tobie Donovan’s Isaac reads a book in every scene and says perhaps nine words across the series; we grew fond of him. Jenny Walser, as Charlie’s sister Tori, has the best deadpan in it.

Now the reservation. Cormac Hyde-Corrin’s Harry Greene is a bully drawn with a thick pencil. He says the cruel thing, gets glared at, and says it again next episode. Oseman has something to say about what being outed at school does to a boy, and Charlie carries it in his shoulders, but it is hard to take the threat seriously when the villain is this easy to see off. The plot, such as it is, runs on whether a message has been read. Sofie Alonzi, Andonis Trattos and Angharad Owen close nearly every episode on a pop song over a montage, and Adiescar Chase’s score, light keyboards and soft percussion, never once argues with a scene. By the fifth episode we wanted something to go properly wrong, and nothing did.

The Radio Times reviewer thought the series was for under-16s and had little for anyone older. We are a long way past sixteen and watched all eight episodes in two evenings, so that argument has a hole in it. What is true is that this is not the American sort of teen drama, with the pills and the parties and the funerals; it is closer to a school story where the stakes are a hand on a desk. It carries a 12 certificate and earns it. If there is a teenager in your house, watch it with them, and expect to be told you are ruining it.

Two more series followed the first. This one has a shape of its own and stops where it should, which is rarer in television than it sounds.

*Fi1m score 79, published 17 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

The reviews are warm and unusually consistent. Most critics find this adaptation of Alice Oseman’s graphic novels sweet, sincere and kind, and mean all three as praise: several set it against the bleaker run of teen dramas and prefer it for its optimism and its interest in care rather than cruelty. The praise clusters on tone and on the leads, with the chemistry between Kit Connor and Joe Locke singled out more than once, and the supporting cast credited with distinct, well-drawn characters. Its faithfulness to the source, comic-book flourishes included, is generally counted a strength.

The spread is narrow. The one mixed notice, from Radio Times, admires the ethos and the representation but finds too little plot or entertainment for anyone over sixteen, and thinks the series is aimed squarely at younger viewers. Nobody else presses the point, though a few concede the school dramas are minor. The disagreement is less about quality than about who the show is for.

### Reviews we read (7)

- **The Guardian** (90/100, inferred): The critic finds the Netflix adaptation of Alice Oseman’s graphic novel series an unutterably sweet and wholesome teen romance that leaves viewers with the sensation of a solid hug. It is praised for its comic-book fantasy elements, emotionally articulate protagonists and gentle handling of themes like bisexuality and queer support networks amid minor school dramas. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/apr/22/heartstopper-review-alice-oseman-netflix-tv-drama)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Lovia Gyarkye (85/100, inferred): The series offers a breath of fresh air with its earnest, sweet tone and focus on sincerity and care among queer teens, contrasting sharply with more nihilistic teen dramas. It constructs a coming-of-age story notable for its nourishing approach to familiar problems. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/heartstopper-review-alice-oseman-1235133418/)
- **Radio Times** (3/5): The critic admires the show's ethos and vital LGBTQ+ representation for teens but finds it lacks sufficient entertainment value or plot development for anyone over 16. The leads are sweet, with strong chemistry among supporting characters, but the series feels aimed squarely at young viewers. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/heartstopper-netflix-review/)
- **Digital Spy**, David Opie (95/100, inferred): The review hails it as one of the most important British shows, emphasizing its affirming portrayal of queer teen love and personal resonance for the critic. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a39660545/heartstopper-review-netflix-gay-queer/)
- **Paste**, Emily Maskell (8.8/10): Heartstopper offers a wholesome, engaging portrait of LGBTQ+ high school life with strong character distinctions and authentic representation across identities. Its direct adaptation from the graphic novels makes for one of the better page-to-screen transfers in recent years. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/heartstopper/heartstopper-review)
- **Den of Geek**, Shawn Laib (85/100, inferred): The critic praises the series for its optimistic portrayal of queer teen romance and its handling of bullying with positivity and grace, highlighting how it offers a utopian vision for the LGBTQ+ community. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/heartstopper-tackles-lgbtq-bullying/)
- **/Film**, Shania Russell (8/10): The series is a sweet, heartwarming YA queer romance that excels due to the natural chemistry between leads Kit Connor and Joe Locke. It captures tender, awkward teen feelings with refreshing sincerity and warmth. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/833116/heartstopper-review-a-queer-romance-that-knows-exactly-how-to-make-your-heart-flutter/)

## Details

- **Created by:** Alice Oseman
- **Creator:** Alice Oseman
- **Director:** Euros Lyn, Andy Newbery
- **Writer:** Alice Oseman
- **Cinematography:** Simona Susnea, Diana Olifirova
- **Editor:** Sofie Alonzi, Andonis Trattos, Angharad Owen
- **Music:** Adiescar Chase
- **Production design:** Carys Beard, Tim Dickel
- **Costume design:** Adam Dee
- **Producer:** Zorana Piggott
- **Cast:** Joe Locke as Charlie Spring; Kit Connor as Nick Nelson; William Gao as Tao Xu; Yasmin Finney as Elle Argent; Corinna Brown as Tara Jones; Cormac Hyde-Corrin as Harry Greene; Kizzy Edgell as Darcy Olsson; Tobie Donovan as Isaac Henderson
- **Certificate (MPA):** TV-14
- **Release (the US):** 22 April 2022
- **Genres:** Drama
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrK4xPy4ahg

## Where to watch in the US

- Netflix: streaming

*Checked 2026-09-17.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, AZ, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *Beautiful Thing* (1996), Fi1m 80: Two boys on a Thamesmead estate, a Mama Cass soundtrack and a much harder summer. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/beautiful-thing.md)
- *Young Royals* (2021): A Swedish boarding school, a prince, and the same slow business of a first kiss.
- *Skam* (2015): Norwegian teenagers filmed in something close to real time; Isak’s series is the one.
- *Derry Girls* (2018): Another British school comedy that takes its teenagers seriously while laughing at them.
- *Show Me Love* (1998): Two girls in a dull Swedish town; rougher, funnier and just as tender.

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/heartstopper