--- title: "PEN15" year: 2019 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/pen15" fi1m_score: 80 critics_score: 79 critics_reviews: 9 published: "2026-09-20T21:13:40.184704+00:00" updated: "2026-09-20T21:13:52.339273+00:00" region: "AT" 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." --- # PEN15 (2019) Created by Anna Konkle, Sam Zvibleman, Maya Erskine · FSK 12 · Comedy **Fi1m score: 80** · Critics 79 from 9 reviews *In a sentence:* Two grown women in butterfly clips and a bowl cut, surrounded by actual children, and somehow the adults are the ones you worry about > Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle play thirteen-year-old versions of themselves among real children, and the trick holds because neither of them is joking. It is funny, frequently painful, and two or three episodes are sketches stretched to episode length. ## Synopsis Best friends Maya Ishii-Peters (Maya Erskine) and Anna Kone (Anna Konkle) are starting middle school, played by two grown women in a cast of actual thirteen-year-olds. The night before, Maya’s mother Yuki Ishii-Peters (Mutsuko Erskine) gives her a haircut she did not ask for. The girls have a plan: this is the year they become popular, get boyfriends and have their first kiss. Instead, on the first day, the boys hand Maya a nickname she cannot shake. At home, Anna’s parents Curtis Kone (Taylor Nichols) and Kathy Kone (Melora Walters) argue through the walls. Sam Zablowski (Taj Cross) sits nearby in class and may or may not be a friend. Maya’s older brother Shuji Ishii-Peters (Dallas Liu) offers no help. ## Review Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle, who created the series with Sam Zvibleman, play thirteen-year-old versions of themselves, Maya Ishii-Peters and Anna Kone, starting middle school. Everyone around them is played by an actual child. That is a gimmick, and the title admits as much before you have pressed play. It works. The show is funny in the way that makes you hold a cushion in front of your face, and more often than we expected it stops being funny and simply hurts. We recommend it, with one caveat: it is ten episodes built on a single idea, and two or three of them show the strain. The trick holds because neither woman is joking. Konkle plays Anna tall and stooped, hair tucked behind both ears, apologising before she has finished a sentence. Erskine gives Maya a bowl cut and a mouth that runs a full second ahead of her brain, and she can go from swagger to tears without a cut. Melissa Walker dresses them in butterfly clips, spaghetti-strap tops over t-shirts and jeans that ride too low, and they wear it all as their best clothes. The real children, Taj Cross’s Sam Zablowski chief among them, are shot in the same frame, and the directors, Zvibleman and Andrew DeYoung among them, are careful about where the adults’ hands and mouths go whenever a scene turns to kissing. The care is visible, and we did not mind that. The three cinematographers, Bella Gonzales, Adam Silver and Andy Rydzewski, shoot it flat and bright, like a school photograph, with none of the golden haze that period comedy usually reaches for. Grace Alie’s production design gives Maya a cluttered house with her mother Yuki Ishii-Peters (Mutsuko Erskine) always at the edge of frame, and gives Anna a tidier, colder one where her parents Curtis Kone (Taylor Nichols) and Kathy Kone (Melora Walters) argue through the walls. Leo Birenberg’s score stays out of the way and lets the pop songs of the year do the remembering. The editors, five of them across the season, hold each embarrassment a beat longer than you want them to. That beat is the joke. There is a scene at the end of the first episode where Maya, who has spent the day pretending not to mind what the boys have decided to call her, gets home and stops pretending. Erskine plays it with no laugh in it anywhere, and we realised we had stopped laughing some minutes before. It got at us because of the face. A real thirteen-year-old in that shot would have been a child being sad, which is sad enough. An adult in that shot is a memory, and we found we had one of our own. Now the caveat. Several episodes are built on one situation, a music video, a sleepover, a school dance, and you can see the shape of the sketch under them: set-up, humiliation, hug. The writing staff is large, Gabe Liedman, Vera Santamaria and Stacy Osei-Kuffour are among the names, and when it reaches for the surreal the show loses its footing for a scene or two. The Kone marriage is well played by Nichols and Walters but arrives at the same argument each time it appears. And there were moments when we wanted the girls to be allowed one clean win. The show is more interested in the loss, and it knows the loss better. The second season, fifteen episodes from 18 September 2020, is longer, sadder and less like a sketch show, which suggests the creators noticed what we did. Against the genre, this sits closer to the gentle end of the school comedy than a tagline calling it R-rated lets on. The 15 certificate is honest about the language. It undersells the tenderness. Watch it two episodes at a time, at home, with someone who will not judge you for looking away. Anyone who was ever thirteen should be warned that it will find them. *Fi1m score 80, published 20 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics like PEN15, and they like it for the same reason: Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle, both adults, play their thirteen-year-old selves among a cast of real children, and the reviews agree the gimmick stops feeling like one very quickly. The praise clusters on the two lead performances, which critics describe as fully committed rather than a comic turn, and on the writing’s honesty about how awkward, over-confident and insecure a teenage girl can be at once. Several also single out the period detail, with the year 2000 rebuilt in costume, set design and dialogue. The reservations are few and fairly consistent. The Hollywood Reporter, the one mixed review, finds the premise a sketch stretched to series length, and Paste, otherwise warm, says something similar. IndieWire is cooler than the rest without being negative. Nobody dislikes it; the argument is over whether one good idea can carry a whole series. ## Straight answers **Is PEN15 worth watching?** *PEN15* is worth watching for anyone who was ever thirteen and can bear to be reminded of it, and we scored it 80. Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle play their thirteen-year-old selves among real children without once winking, and the result is funny and then, more often than we expected, simply painful. Two or three episodes are sketches stretched thin, which is the one caveat. **How long is PEN15, and what is it rated?** *PEN15* is rated 12 by the FSK in Austria. It is a comedy series. **Where can I watch PEN15 in Austria?** *PEN15* is not on any streaming or rental service in Austria at the moment. It is available in 3 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How violent or frightening is PEN15, and is it suitable for children?** *PEN15* carries a UK 15 certificate, earned mainly by the language, and it is not violent or frightening in any conventional sense. The discomfort comes from humiliation held a beat too long and from two adults playing children among actual children, with visible care taken whenever a scene turns to kissing. It is not for young children, but the certificate undersells how tender it is. **How does PEN15 compare to Eighth Grade?** *PEN15* and *Eighth Grade* cover the same age and the same terror, but the series uses two grown women playing thirteen while the film uses a real thirteen-year-old, Elsie Fisher, with no safety net. The film is the tighter piece; the series is funnier and has room to be sadder over ten episodes, though a few of them sag. Choose the film for one concentrated evening, the series for company over a fortnight. ### Reviews we read (9) - **Variety**, Caroline Framke (90/100, inferred): The critic finds the Hulu comedy a minor miracle for its insightful take on the awkward, over-confident and insecure experience of being a teenage girl, which is rarely depicted so accurately on screen. It stands out for flipping familiar adolescent tropes in clever ways while focusing on the geeks from a female perspective. [Read](https://variety.com/2019/tv/reviews/pen15-review-hulu-1203131491/) - **Vulture** (90/100, inferred): PEN15 is an irresistible millennial coming-of-age series that blends brutal honesty with gentle poignance in its portrayal of middle school friendship and awkwardness. The adult casting of the leads succeeds brilliantly in capturing preteen behavior and nostalgia for the year 2000. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2019/02/pen15-hulu-review.html) - **The Guardian** (85/100, inferred): The critic praises the series as a warmhearted yet terrifyingly well-observed comedy about being uncool at school that transcends its central gimmick of adults playing 13-year-olds. The lead performances by Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle are singled out for their full commitment and convincing portrayal of teenage selves, delivering more heart than schtick. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/feb/08/pen15-review-hulu-adolescence-comedy) - **IndieWire**, Ben Travers (70/100, inferred): The series combines the pathos of Eighth Grade with the outrageousness of Big Mouth into a ridiculous yet truthful comedy. Adult actors playing teenagers allows for scenarios that could not be filmed with actual teens. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/pen15-hulu-review-lonely-island-maya-erskine-anna-konkle-1202041625/) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Tim Goodman (60/100, inferred): Incredible performances by the adult leads playing 13-year-olds make the series intriguing and relatable, especially for its commitment to realism in awkward middle-school moments. However, it ultimately feels like a sketch stretched into a full series, making the whole experience less inviting. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/pen15-review-1182452/) - **Consequence** (85/100, inferred): PEN15 delivers a bittersweet, age-bending triumph that captures the excitement and terror of early teen desire with honesty and humor. The creators elevate their self-portraits into tragicomic masterworks through sharp, stammering dialogue. [Read](https://consequence.net/2019/02/tv-review-pen15/) - **Collider**, Vinnie Mancuso (★★★★): The series is a big-hearted ode to the awkwardness of middle school that feels authentic and specific. It excels through its attention to period detail in writing, directing, and set design. [Read](https://collider.com/pen15-review/) - **Den of Geek**, Nick Harley (4/5): PEN15 is a nostalgia-filled adolescent comedy that excels in its cringe-comedy and heartfelt exploration of growing up. The adult leads' commitment to playing 13-year-olds alongside real kids sells the gimmick and the show's mix of laughs and poignancy. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/pen15-review-spoiler-free/) - **Paste**, Amy Glynn (7.5/10): The show captures middle school in all its disgusting, giddy glory through the bold choice of adult leads playing 13-year-olds. It is deft and funny with moments of surreal brilliance, though it sometimes feels more like a sketch show than a fully realized series. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/pen15/pen15-hulu-middle-school-comedy-review) ## Details - **Created by:** Anna Konkle, Sam Zvibleman, Maya Erskine - **Creator:** Anna Konkle, Sam Zvibleman, Maya Erskine - **Director:** Sam Zvibleman, Andrew DeYoung, Daniel Gray Longino, Anna Konkle, Maya Erskine - **Writer:** Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, Sam Zvibleman, Gabe Liedman, Josh Levine, Vera Santamaria, Rachele Lynn, Jessica Watson, Andrew Rhymer, Jeff Chan, Stacy Osei-Kuffour - **Story:** Josh Levine, Rachele Lynn - **Teleplay:** Josh Levine, Rachele Lynn, Alyssa DiMari, Diana Tay - **Cinematography:** Andy Rydzewski, Adam Silver, Bella Gonzales - **Editor:** Taichi Erskine, Matt McBrayer, Amelia Allwarden, John Daigle, Michael Scotti Jr. - **Music:** Leo Birenberg - **Production design:** Grace Alie - **Costume design:** Melissa Walker - **Producer:** Jeremy Reitz, Scott Levine, Don Dunn - **Cast:** Maya Erskine as Maya Ishii-Peters; Anna Konkle as Anna Kone; Mutsuko Erskine as Yuki Ishii-Peters; Taylor Nichols as Curtis Kone; Melora Walters as Kathy Kone; Taj Cross as Sam Zablowski; Dallas Liu as Shuji Ishii-Peters; Wyatt Walter as Kyle Field - **Certificate (FSK):** 12 - **Release (Austria):** 8 February 2019 - **Genres:** Comedy - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tdt2COuH4Js ## Where to watch in Austria Not streaming, renting or buying in Austria at the last check. Also available in: AU, CA, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *Eighth Grade* (2018), Fi1m 84: The same age and the same terror, with a real thirteen-year-old and no safety net — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/eighth-grade.md) - *Freaks and Geeks* (1999), Fi1m 88: The high school comedy that treats a bad year as seriously as the people living it — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/freaks-and-geeks.md) - *Derry Girls* (2018), Fi1m 83: Four girls, one boy and a school run by nuns; faster, louder, equally mortifying — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/derry-girls.md) - *Welcome to the Dollhouse* (1995), Fi1m 82: Middle school without the hugs; Solondz finds the cruelty and refuses to soften it — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/welcome-to-the-dollhouse.md) - *Big Mouth* (2017): Puberty as animated monsters; cruder than PEN15 and, in its way, as honest --- © 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/pen15