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Maxton Hall - review (season 1)
James Beaufort and Ruby Bell at Maxton Hall
I promised I'd write a proper review for Maxton Hall, and here it is!
So far, there is one season consisting of 6 eps.
A German production, this series adapts a German YA romance novel by Mona Kasten - misleadingly called "Save Me", so I first thought that it was an English book, but it's not. The story takes place at an English grammar school two hours outside of Oxford. The two main characters start out as enemies but over the course of the story fall in love with each other. Ruby (Harriet Herbig-Matten) is a poor girl with a disabled father, who goes to Maxton Hall on a scholarship and whose only dream it has always been to study at Oxford. James (Damian Hardung) is a rich boy and heir to a fashion imperium, who cares about nothing but sex, drugs, and ... um, lacrosse.
The show is well acted, very sexy, well produced, and I found it very very weird to hear everyone speak German again after twenty years of US shows and cdrama ;), but the writing is... um. Not all that believable. The characters are either evil caricatures or perfect angels, and I didn't think their actions made much sense. I found the kissing scenes quite nice, but apart from that... eh. I ended up liking it despite that, and it's not much of an investment at 6 eps, ymmv.
I then of course went on to read the (first) book, only to find that it's actually really well written, lively, funny, and most of the things that I found so unbelievable in the show... didn't exist. The plot of the show is very very close to the book, but in some key points, the series decided to up the stakes - at the cost of believability. Or maybe I'd just already gotten used to some of the less realistic things and took them in stride, idk.
Also, I never thought I'd say this, while the kissing and sex scenes are good on screen, they're actually better in the book. They're very detailed, and chock full of emotions and character motivation. The author is really good at them, that's some high-end romance novel stuff. (Even though it's in German, and I expected to be squicked, I wasn't really. The only thing that made me chuckle was her consistent use of "Ständer" for dick, which is... excusable, I guess. Better than whatever other stupid euphemisms one could come up with.)
The show was a huge hit, apparently the most popular non-US Prime Originals production ever, so it's already clear that there will be a second season.
Is it a rec? Hmm... well. The show is a little ott, and the English setting and German language clash in my opinion, but if you like high school romance and/or enemies-to-lovers... it's not bad.
Does it have a happy ending?
ending spoilers
Well, they get together very near the end. But then something bad happens, and the book ends on a very painful note. The show leaves out the very last scene of the book, in which James slides back into his asshole behavior, so the show is more open-ended. Both obviously set up their respective second parts with this.Read my more detailed thoughts and look at some screencaps here at my journal
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That's interesting. I often enjoy it when adaptations do something creative with the source material, but I am not sure leaning away from plausibility makes for a better TV show!
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I really wanted to like it because I *adore* enemies-to-lovers! 😥 Maybe I'll give it another chance now that I'm more in the mood for ridiculousness. Pretty sure I won't watch it in German, however, because the language clash might otherwise give me a Rosamunde Pilcher ick.
I hope this show's success leads Prime to invest more money into romance shows.
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It's very weird, for sure. :D
I don't think there are alternatives? Is there a dubbed version? I had someone assumed that there was only a subbed one. (But I'll always go for original language if I can, because the facial expressions fit so much better.)
I hope this show's success leads Prime to invest more money into romance shows.
Oh, good point, I hadn't thought of that!
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You can choose from over 10 dub languages. Prime Video must feel very confident about this production. The English dub, judging from the bits I've listened to, is okay but nothing remarkable.
(But I'll always go for original language if I can, because the facial expressions fit so much better.)
Me too (usually). .___________.
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I've never seen anyone play Lacrosse in Germany. The author is German, I doubt she has either. Maybe she took her inspiration from Teen Wolf?
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