7 Shows Like Heartbreak High You Must See

Image Credit: Lisa Tomasetti/Netflix

Created by Hannah Carroll Chapman, Ben Gannon, and Michael Jenkins, ‘Heartbreak High’ is a Netflix teen-drama series. It revolves around a group of students who are forced to take a sex-ed class after a mural describing their secret hook-ups is discovered. The mural’s alleged author, Amerie Wadia (Ayesha Madon), suddenly finds herself being shunned by the entire class, including her best friend, Harper. With the help of outsiders Darren and Quinni, Amerie resolves to fix her reputation. If you have watched ‘Heartbreak High’ and loved it, here is a list of recommendations that might suit your taste. You can watch most of these shows similar to ‘Heartbreak High’ on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime.

7. Generation (2021)

Image Credit: Jennifer Clasen/HBO Max

Created by father-daughter duo Zelda Barnz & Daniel Barnz, ‘Generation’ (or ‘Genera+ion’) is thematically quite similar to ‘Heartbreak High,’ though, unlike the latter, the HBO Max show doesn’t particularly have a singular protagonist. Instead, it has an ensemble cast of characters, and the plot is told from most of their perspectives. This makes the narrative quite chaotic, but that seems to be intentional. Like ‘Heartbreak High,’ ‘Generation’ explores the hopes and desires of a group of Gen-Z students and how they interact with each other and the world at large.

6. Trinkets (2019–2020)

The TV adaptation of the 2013 novel of the same name by Kirsten Smith, ‘Trinkets’ revolves around three young women — Elodie Davis (Brianna Hildebrand), Moe Truax (Kiana Madeira), and Tabitha Foster (Quintessa Swindell). They become fast friends after running into each other at a Shoplifters Anonymous meeting. All of them maintain different personalities at school. Elodie is a recluse, Moe is stylistically punk, and Tabitha perfectly plays the part of an affluent family’s daughter. Elodie serves as the audience surrogate in the story, having moved to Portland, Oregon, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, after her mother’s death. Like ‘Heartbreak High’ and several other entries in the list, ‘Trinkets’ deals with the issues that Generation Z faces in their everyday lives.

5. Elite (2018–)

Image Credit: Matías Uris/Netflix

Elite’ is a Spanish teen thriller series that tells the story of three working-class teenage students attending an elite school through a scholarship program. After the collapse of their school building, Samuel, Nadia, and Christian enroll at Las Encinas, a prestigious private school where almost all the students hail from wealthy families. As Samuel, Nadia, and Christian navigate through the tricky waters of their new school, they make both friends and enemies. ‘Elite’ mostly deals with typical teen-drama themes, but like ‘Heartbreak High,’ it also candidly explores progressive concepts through its plot.

4. Sex Education (2019-)

Image Credit: Sam Taylor/Netflix

In ‘Sex Education,’ a Netflix teen series, the plot revolves around the students and staff members of the fictional Moordale Secondary School and their families. Like ‘Heartbreak High,’ ‘Sex Education’ depicts the everyday struggles of modern students, with an added focus on sexuality and sexual literacy. The main characters are Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield) and Maeve Wiley (Emma Mackey), who set up an impromptu sex therapy clinic at their school. Ncuti Gatwa stars as Eric Effiong, Otis’ best friend who is gay. He is bewildered as anyone else after learning about Otis and Maeve’s plans about the clinic. Gillian Anderson portrays Jean Milburn, Otis’ mother and accomplished sex therapist.

3. Never Have I Ever (2020-2023)

Image Credit: Lara Solanki/Netflix

Like ‘Heartbreak High,’ ‘Never Have I Ever’ has a protagonist of South Asian descent. Created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher, the teen-comedy series revolves around Devi Vishwakumar, who lives in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, with her Indian-American Tamil family. The story follows Devi as she navigates through grief, love, and teenage along with her friends. ‘Never Have I Ever’ is a proudly non-resident Indian show, filled to the brim with unique cultural references. John McEnroe, who is supposed to be the favorite tennis player of Devi’s late father, serves as the narrator of the series.

2. Heartbreak High (1994-1999)

Netflix’s ‘Heartbreak High’ is a reboot of an Australian series of the same name, which aired on Network Ten between 1994 and 1996 and on ABC TV between 1997 and 1999. The original show has a completely different cast of characters from the reboot and deals with issues that were important to its core audience — Generation X. The main themes of the 1990s show are class exploitation and race. The story initially revolves around the 17-year-old Greek-Australian student Nick Poulos and Jodie Cooper, Nick’s fellow student and an aspiring singer. In later seasons, the mantle of the protagonist is borne by other characters.

1. Euphoria (2019–)

Image Credit: Eddy Chen/HBO

Based on the Israeli miniseries of the same name, ‘Euphoria’ is a riveting teen drama series that revolves around Rue Bennett (Zendaya). After spending a considerable time at a rehab for drug abuse, Rue leaves the facility at the start of the season with the hopes of building a meaningful life. While Rue is the central character of the show, other characters and their struggles involving love, grief, and addiction are also explored. Both ‘Heartbreak High’ and ‘Euphoria’ delve deep into the psyche of Generation Z and offers a story that deals with modern themes such as social media, gender identity, sexual orientation, toxic positivity, hook-up culture, and drug and alcohol abuse.

Read More: Do Harper and Amerie Reconcile in Heartbreak High?

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