Heartbreak High = Heartbreak Bye

In times of heartbreak, especially in the winter, when it is cold and hard not to get a runny nose (either from the weather, or your broken heart), it is nice to have a television series that makes you forget about that broken heart. Even more if it can make you laugh, specifically about how fucked up the love lives are of the teenagers in the Netflix Series Heartbreak High (2022-2025). This Australian series follows teenager Amerie and her friends – or at least people that don’t actively hate her – as they navigate their love lives, friendships, and, might I say, bodies… 

It all starts as an ‘incest map’ is discovered on a wall in an old part of the school: a map consisting of all students that have been sexually involved with each other. A few hours after the discovery of the wall, all students whose names were on the wall are forced to attend the new sex ed course SLT: Sexual Literacy Tutorial (pronounced ‘sluts’ by the students). This course is extracurricular, which makes everyone very pissed. Someone needs to take the blame… introducing Amerie Wadia; very guilty. Her co-mapper and best friend Harper McLean (also guilty), wants to let Amerie take the fall on her own. Harper starts ignoring her, leaving Amerie to become known as the Map Bitch. As the story unfolds, a lot of characters with their own struggles are introduced while the mystery around the friendship between Harper and Amerie grows, leaving you hooked till the very end! 

Although it is centered around high schoolers, the challenges the teenagers face are most probably still relatable in your uni life (@sjaarsen). So, if you’re not watching this series for your own heartbreak distraction, then watch it to get taught what NOT to do or feel second-hand embarrassment throughout the whole show. Or, even better, to pick up on some Australian slang, which would especially come in handy in that Australian exchange semester you have always been dreaming about ;)  

Fun fact!! Does Heartbreak High ring a bell? This Netflix series started 20 years after the original, very old-school, Heartbreak High soap series was released, a television series that took up to 7 seasons.