{"id":479579,"date":"2026-05-11T18:27:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T18:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/479579\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T18:27:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T18:27:25","slug":"off-campus-review-a-cutesy-ya-romance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/479579\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Off Campus’ Review: A Cutesy YA Romance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tBased on Elle Kennedy\u2019s bestselling book series of the same name and adapted for television by Louisa Levy, \u201cOff Campus<\/a>\u201d is a YA romance drama revolving around a popular jock and a quirky music student who inadvertently cross paths and fall in love. Set at the fictional Northeastern Briar University, Season 1 focuses on the first book in the series, \u201cThe Deal,\u201d and follows Hannah Wells (Ella Bright<\/a>), a classical
music major who strikes a bargain with Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli<\/a>), the school\u2019s NHL-bound team captain. Encompassing all of the tropes of an opposites-attract love story, \u201cOff Campus\u201d isn\u2019t reinventing the wheel, but it\u2019s still an interesting ride.<\/p>\n

\n\tHannah and Garrett\u2019s connection begins with an awkward encounter. It\u2019s three weeks into the fall semester, and Hannah is at one of her jobs, cleaning the men\u2019s locker rooms at the campus
stadium. Distracted by the music in her headphones, she accidentally catches Garrett in the
shower. Though he\u2019s amused, Hannah is horrified. She\u2019s even more miffed when he begs her to
help him with a midterm. Despite her reluctance, Hannah eventually agrees, hoping that spending time with Garrett will also entice her crush, Justin Kohl (Josh Heuston), to help her write a song for a scholarship. However, as Garrett and Hannah spend time together, they realize their feelings might go well beyond friendship.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOff Campus\u201d is mostly solid, and Bright and Cameli have lovely chemistry, as do side characters who get their own moments to shine. The series also does a great job highlighting discussions of sexual assault and consent while showcasing healthy sexual encounters and practices. Yet, the sex positivity doesn\u2019t quite extend to the series\u2019 use of nudity: The excessive display of breasts in the pilot feels borderline exploitative.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe cast\u2019s performances are earnest and sincere, giving their characters authenticity, but
the overall narrative is predictable. By the end of Episode 1, viewers can see how the story will
end. Along with some tepid plot points, the dialogue feels choppy and at times emoji-like, with
characters speaking in half-thoughts. It detracts from the narrative\u2019s intensity.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe eight-episode first season does beautifully convey the emotions and concerns of young
adults. Unlike many YA shows, where the parental figures seem to exist outside the frame, here
they are very much a part of the lives of these young people \u2014 for better and for worse. The
juxtaposition between Hannah\u2019s parents and Garrett\u2019s home life, for example, is clear, and their
origin stories directly inform their present circumstances. Additionally, seeing the friendships,
not only between Hannah and her best friend, Allie Hayes (Mika Abdalla), but also among the male characters, sets the show apart. Garrett and his buddies, Logan (Antonio Cipriano), Tucker
(Jalen Thomas Brooks) and Dean (Stephen Kalyn) are hockey players and frat bros, yet they aren\u2019t the brainless meatheads typically depicted in this genre. They have challenging conversations and express themselves, showing the importance of bonds between men.<\/p>\n

\n\tSince hockey is a major theme here, \u201cOff Campus\u201d will immediately draw comparisons to HBO
Max\u2019s queer romance \u201cHeated Rivalry.\u201d Though the latter is the stronger series, there is much to enjoy about \u201cOff Campus.\u201d As the show moves ahead (Prime Video<\/a> has greenlit a second season), it will spotlight couples from other books in this universe, allowing it to expand and strengthen while giving Gen Z a much-needed voice in the television landscape.<\/p>\n

\n\tAll eight episodes of \u201cOff Campus\u201d premiere on May 13 on Prime Video.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Based on Elle Kennedy\u2019s bestselling book series of the same name and adapted for television by Louisa Levy,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[265],"tags":[209915,18,209916,117,19,17,198934,3973,128],"class_list":{"0":"post-479579","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-belmont-cameli","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-ella-bright","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-off-campus","15":"tag-prime-video","16":"tag-tv"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116557358548244875","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}