Slight spoilers are ahead. The premise of Netflixs Young Royals is delightfully tropey. The Swedish teen drama streaming now follows a thoughtful almost awkward prince Edvin Ryding who has shipped off to boarding school after getting involved in a nasty nightclub brawl and disgracing the royal family. Prince Wilhelms family including the queen Pernilla August and power-hungry second cousin August Malte Gårdinger expect him to socialize with fellow elites like Felice Nikita Uggla but instead Wilhelm finds himself drawn to an antisocial commoner Simon Omar Rudberg.
The comparisons started flooding in immediately after the first trailer dropped. Some YouTube commenters and Twitter users likened the premise to Casey McQuistons Red White and Royal Blue and others said that the European backdrop reminded them of Skam the Norwegian coming of age series that attracted a cult following worldwide. But an overwhelming majority mentioned the Spanish soap Elite. The trailer the sound is giving me major Elite vibes one person commented. Several people described it as Swedish Elite minus you know. All the murder.
But despite its sexy, dramatic trailer Young Royals is completely unlike other shows about rich, famous and worldly teenagers. For one thing no one has clear skin or perfect hair even the trendiest fanciest characters actually look like high schoolers. Ryding is 18 years old the rest of the main cast is around 20-22. But even beyond that their mannerisms are age appropriate too. In the eyes of his classmates Wilhelm is as popular and charismatic as anyone would expect a young royal to be but he has also vulnerable and nervous especially around the guy he likes. He bites his fingernails when he has stressed he has often fidgeting and slouching. Even Simon could not easily be described as cool.
Wilhelm and Simons sex scenes teased via sultry snippets in the Young Royals trailer are proof of this. Unlike the steamiest moments on Elite Riverdale and even Skam their intimate scenes are uncomfortable and a little goofy and they are romantic because of that not in spite of it. They laugh they make fun of each other morning breath. At one point Simon awkwardly stands up and turns on a video game so that his mom and sister do not hear anything. Thanks to shows like Sex Education and Normal People we are seeing more and more depictions of realistic sex on screen depictions that prove messy relatable sex scenes are not just important to portray but are actually hot experiences for the characters too. And is not that what makes a sex scene good?
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