Another day, another book-to-screen adaptation. Prime Video’s Off Campus is based on the book series by Elle Kennedy and was developed by Louisa Levy, and its hockey-centric story has prompted many Heated Rivalry comparisons. But does it have the same juice as the Crave/HBO Max phenomenon?
Opening Shot: The scene is set at an ice rink, where we’re treated to a split screen of someone loading a cassette player and pressing play on a Spotify playlist, signifying the immediate differences between main characters Hannah and Garrett. As both are grooving to their respective music—Garrett on the ice at first and then in the shower, and Hannah as the student custodian—she accidentally catches a direct glance at his extremely naked body. Oops.
The Gist: Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli) is Briar University’s star hockey player—in fact, he’s already being hyped up as the Boston Bruins’ draft pick. But underneath his jock exterior and bright future, he’s harboring resentment towards his dad (a former professional hockey player who is emotionally withholding) and is also struggling academically. While he’s out at sea about the former, he strikes up a plan for the latter problem after encountering music major Hannah Wells (Ella Bright). He observes her stellar grades in a difficult class and notices that she has a crush on a bad boy musician named Justin (Josh Heuston), and suggests a plan: He’ll pose as her boyfriend to make Justin jealous if she’ll be his tutor. A tale as old as time.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The obvious comp for the new Prime Video series is Heated Rivalry given the hockey backdrop of the series, but Off Campus is much more like One Tree Hill with Hannah tutoring Garrett, which can only end in true romance.
Our Take: Off Campus isn’t groundbreaking—the series retreads similar beats to many YA romance stories that came before—but this arrangement of the genre’s tropes is fun enough to hang out with for eight episodes. While the pilot feels formulaic in setting up the chess pieces, it promises a more vulnerable and emotional story moving forward.
Cameli and Bright have enough chemistry to carry the series, even in their limited shared screen time in the first episode. (Side note: what’s most confusing is that the actors who play Garrett and Justin look extremely similar—seriously, I could only tell them apart because Justin is fashioned with an earring—which made some of the scenes initially hard to follow. You’ve been warned!)
While it’s unlikely that Off Campus will garner the same rabid fanbase as fellow book-to-screen adaptations Heated Rivalry and The Summer I Turned Pretty, fans of the genre will have plenty to enjoy here.
Performance Worth Watching: Ella Bright anchors the series and makes Hannah the more interesting of the two leads, even though her dilemmas of an unrequited crush and her scholarship in jeopardy are less sexy than Garrett’s daddy issues.
Sex And Skin: There are some explicit sex scenes here, so keep that in mind as you watch.
Parting Shot: Hannah and Garrett strike a deal: he’ll pose as her boyfriend to help get the attention of her musician crush Justin, and she’ll tutor him academically. What could go wrong?
Sleeper Star: The Pitt fans will recognize Jalen Thomas Brooks, who appears as one of Garrett’s hockey buddies. While he doesn’t have a ton to do in the pilot, he’s a naturalistic actor that commands the frame.
Most Pilot-y Line: “You’re not interested in me and I’m not interested in a relationship,” Garrett explains his proposition to fake-date. “So this arrangement is…mutually beneficial?” Hannah questions. “Purely transactional,” he confirms. Famous last words.
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Our Call: STREAM IT. This frothy “opposites attract” series will fill the YA romance series hole in your life.
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Radhika Menon (@menonrad) is a film and TV writer based in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared on Vulture, Teen Vogue, ELLE, and more. She is the co-host of the podcast PromRad with fellow Decider contributor Proma Khosla. At any given moment, she can ruminate at length over Friday Night Lights, the University of Michigan, and the perfect slice of pizza. You may call her Rad.
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