If you can survive the cringe, you will find that PEN15 is one of the most honest things on television. Just don't watch it with your parents.
The immediate question new viewers have before watching is, “Why are grown women playing middle schoolers?” The answer lies in the execution. Erskine and Konkle aren't trying to "pass" as younger in a cheap, SNL -sketch kind of way. Instead, they use the physical absurdity of adults in kiddie clothes to highlight the emotional truth of adolescence: when you are 13, your feelings are so big, so monstrous, and so overwhelming that they feel like they belong to a 30-year-old body. PEN15 1x1
runs a tight 30 minutes, but it packs in more emotional beats than most hour-long dramas. Here is how the pilot establishes the world. If you can survive the cringe, you will
For those born between 1988 and 1992, is a horror movie disguised as a comedy. The production design is immaculate: Erskine and Konkle aren't trying to "pass" as
: Maya is initially led to believe the school's "cutest" boys, Brandt and Dustin, have a crush on her. Instead, she discovers they have branded her "UGIS" (Ugliest Girl in School).