As most of you will know, I didn’t grow up in the UK and attended school in my home country, South Africa. The history I was taught was very focused on World Wars and American history for one half of the curriculum. The other half was much about what is known as “The Struggle”, which is the history of the architecture of Apartheid and how it was dismantled. I will admit that at the time I wasn’t aware enough to be able to assess how accurate and unbiased it was. I also can’t remember a lot of the detail because I graduate high school 22 years ago.

Marianne (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Connell (Paul Mescal) are in the same class but they live in different worlds. Marianne’s home life is one of privilege and in school she is seen as an odd ball, know it all snob. Connell’s mother cleans Marianne’s house and Connell is part of the popular in-crowd. What they do have in common is an undeniable attraction to each other. They begin a relationship that Connell wants to keep secret, which kicks off a cycle of them appearing in and out of each others’ lives as they attempt to leave their hometown of Sligo and grow up.