--- title: "What It Feels Like for a Girl: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/what-it-feels-like-for-a-girl/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/tv/what-it-feels-like-for-a-girl" critics_score: 83 critics_reviews: 8 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." --- # What It Feels Like for a Girl (2025): what the critics said Critics' score 83 from 8 reviews: 8 positive, 0 mixed, 0 negative. The reviews are uniformly positive, and the praise lands in the same two places. Nearly every critic singles out Ellis Howard’s lead performance as Byron, for carrying a teenager who is witty, reckless and still forming without softening any of it. The other constant is nerve: most critics describe the adaptation of Paris Lees’s memoir as fearless, unsentimental about sex work and drugs, and unwilling to treat a trans coming-of-age story as a catalogue of trauma. The recreation of Nottingham’s early-2000s club scene draws repeated approval. The spread is narrow, from good to outstanding, with no mixed or negative notices. Where reservations surface they concern the ending, which The Guardian finds conventional and The Telegraph calls somewhat trite after all that raw energy. Several critics flag the explicit and disturbing material as a warning rather than a fault. The Times and The Telegraph are the coolest voices, and even they call it gripping. ## Evening Standard — India Block Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 3 June 2025. This fearless and compelling TV adaptation of Paris Lees’s memoir shines thanks to Ellis Howard’s performance, with surreal and thrilling sequences amid sex, drugs and 2000s dance music. It doesn’t gloss over the messy, harrowing bits of teenage transgression and identity. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/tvfilm/what-it-feels-like-for-a-girl-review-paris-lees-bbc-three-ellis-howard-b1230552.html) ## The Guardian — Rachel Aroesti Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 3 June 2025. The series is an extraordinary, deeply disturbing and fearless adaptation of Paris Lees’ memoir about a wild, witty teen’s chaotic coming-of-age involving sex work and queer friendships. It delivers a resolutely unsentimental tale of moral ambiguity and transition, rewarding viewers with a complex psychological portrait despite some conventional elements at the end. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/jun/03/what-it-feels-like-for-a-girl-review-deeply-disturbing-and-totally-fearless-tv) ## The i Paper — Emily Baker Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 3 June 2025. The fictionalisation of Paris Lees's memoir is a joyous examination of class, masculinity and gender identity. The critic highlights the strongly realised central character Byron and the series' timely mix of humour, darkness and celebration of identity in a working-class context. [Read the review](https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/what-it-feels-like-for-a-girl-review-3726442) ## Radio Times — Jack Seale Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). In this coming-of-age tale based on a memoir by Paris Lees, Byron is stuck in a boring Nottinghamshire town dreaming of a different life; a dalliance with sex work leads to Nottingham’s queer underground and a gang of outsiders offering new possibilities. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/programme/b-tqvc08/what-it-feels-like-for-a-girl/) ## The Telegraph Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 5 June 2025. The BBC Three adaptation is an addictive, shocking and gripping coming-of-age drama with raw, bawdy energy and a magnetic central performance. It features lewd and explicit scenes but ultimately feels like a real-life fairytale, though the happy ending is somewhat trite. [Read the review](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2025/06/05/what-it-feels-like-for-a-girl-bbc-iplayer-review/) ## The Times Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 3 June 2025. This BBC3 series is a raw, funny, fearless, heartbreaking and occasionally disturbing coming-of-age drama that is well acted and not just another YA story. It stands out despite surrounding controversy over its subject matter and title. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/what-it-feels-like-for-a-girl-review-a-raw-and-funny-coming-of-age-drama-l205jnf5n) ## Digital Spy — David Opie Rating 5/5. 3 June 2025. The critic calls it the most important LGBTQ+ series since It's a Sin, praising its smart, well-rounded portrayal of trans joy, love and acceptance amid noughties challenges rather than focusing solely on trauma. They single out the phenomenal cast led by Ellis Howard's extraordinary performance and the authentic recreation of queer nightlife. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a64872696/what-it-feels-like-for-girl-review-bbc/) ## NME — Nick Levine Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 4 June 2025. The critic calls the series one of 2025's best new shows, praising its raw, raucous coming-of-age story adapted from Paris Lees' memoir and its vivid capture of Nottingham's early-2000s club scene. They single out Ellis Howard's lead performance for conveying Byron's evolving identity and complex teenage personality with tenderness, empathy, and humor. [Read the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/tv-reviews/what-it-feels-like-for-a-girl-review-paris-lees-ellis-howard-3867283) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/tv/what-it-feels-like-for-a-girl.md