Naman Shrestha
Originally titled ‘Hammerharte Jungs,’ Netflix’s ‘Hard Feelings’ is a German teen comedy movie that revolves around two best friends — Charly and Paula — who are struggling to move up the high school hierarchy. Suddenly, when their respective private parts become bossy, and they are forced to deal with their embarrassing new urges, the two friends must save not only things on the academic front but also their long and close friendship. As their urges become stronger with time, Charly and Paula slowly realize there might be much more to their love for each other than friendship.
Helmed by Granz Henman, the comedy film features hilarious onscreen performances from a talented ensemble comprising Tobias Schäfer, Cosima Henman, Axel Stein, Samirah Breuer, Louis Jérôme Wagenbrenner, and Vivien König. The hormonal changes in teens and platonic relationships turning into romantic ones are not unheard of in real life. So, it is understandable why many of you might pose the question — is ‘Hard Feelings’ based on true events? Luckily for you, we have gathered all the information about the same. Let’s explore the same in detail, shall we?
Hard Feelings is a Fictional Story
No, ‘Hard Feelings’ is not based on a true story. However, the raunchy teen comedy’s hilarious yet seemingly true-to-life storyline is the brainchild of the talented screenwriter Alexander Dydyna, who has ample experience in the film industry as he has written for ‘I’ve Never Been to New York,’ ‘A Song for Mia,’ ‘Bruder vor Luder,’ and ‘Young Goethe in Love.’ Thanks to his creative mind and exceptional penmanship, Alexander Dydyna conjured up an intriguing yet realistic screenplay for the Netflix movie.
In real life, almost all of us have experienced our hormones taking control of us, especially in our teen years. Besides, more often than not, teenagers are susceptible to getting infatuated and falling in love. All these themes are deeply explored in ‘Hard Feelings,’ which is one of the reasons you might think to believe that it is rooted in reality in one way or another. Another reason why the Netflix film seems familiar to you is that the core themes and elements, including teen hormones and infatuations, have been explored in numerous movies and TV shows over the years, such as ‘Who’s a Good Boy?,’ ‘The To Do List,’ and ‘Not Another Teen Movie.’
One of the aptest examples has to be that of the 2019 Cristina Jacob directorial, ‘Oh, Ramona!.’ Starring Bogdan Iancu, Aggy K. Adams, Holly Horne, Basil Eidenbenz, and Melanie Ebanks, the Romanian teen comedy film is based on Andrei Ciobanu’s novel ‘Suck It, Ramona.’ The narrative follows an awkward 16-year-old boy named Andrei, who is infatuated with his schoolmate Ramona as he starts making his way into adulthood. When she approaches him to hook up with him, he stops her from advancing in a moment of utter confusion, kickstarting a series of misfortunes in his life.
But soon, during a vacation, Andrei crosses paths with a beautiful hotel clerk named Anemona, who gets dazzled by his sincerity and dorkiness. Now, with two girls in the picture, he must make the tough decision and choose one. As you must have gathered, several similarities exist in the two movies’ humor, themes, and subject matters. So, we can conclude that despite the inclusion of certain realistic subjects and elements, ‘Hard Feelings’ is nothing but a work of fiction.
Read More: Where Was Netflix’s Hard Feelings Filmed?
