Boarders

Daniel Lawrence Taylor’s latest project Boarders follows the age-old cliché of a group of city scholars entering into the world of prestigious boarding schools, complete with exclusionary bullies, troubles fitting in and finding the self throughout the chaotic world of high school and teen hormones. Think School Ties meets Descendants with a Bring it On: All or Nothing twist. Refreshing and full of mischief, the TV series follows five Black teens, each with their own individual talents, boarding into an elite British private school. There, they must learn to assimilate into a difficult environment full of peers preying on their downfalls and adults with high expectations.

Boarders is an entertaining dramedy with exquisite performances from its young leads, particularly Josh Tedeku as Jaheim, Jodie Campbell as Leah and Assa Kanoute as Abby. While all five teens each have compelling stories of their own, the two from the main group – Leah and Jaheim – are absolute standouts. Jaheim’s storyline sees him fight off bullies, battle with his internalised racism and make new friends while holding onto old ones. His struggles with guilt for other people and trying to move forward and do better for himself are the emotional core of most episodes. Leah’s journey has more to do with breaking free from her rigid activism to enjoy the disruptive pleasures of high school parties and teen romance. The bond she builds with her roommate Abby – whose high popularity and her father’s position of power within the school make for an interesting push and pull between the two – is a captivating dynamic to follow.

There are a lot of themes at play here and most of them aren’t just embedded in throwaway lines or meaningless subplots. The characters, main or supporting, are embodiments of these themes. For example, Mabel is an overcompensating alley who develops and grows, learning what it means to be supportive of a movement rather than be the face of it. Headmaster Bernard is also another interesting figure: the adult in a position of power, using diversity quotas for his personal gain. He wants the five teens to do well to uplift the image of his school rather than a strong belief that it’s what they deserve. The intricate implementation of themes into characters and watching how these characters in turn interact with the main five is fascinating to watch. It ensures that all them remain connected despite their developments and plots moving in different directions.

Boarders maintains a tense atmosphere throughout. There’s an eerie feeling as one goes through each episode that even when things are going well for the characters, some disaster is going to strike and take it all away. Most scenes are coated in bright and saturated colours – until that high is snatched back into the ground and a new problem arises, replacing that vivid brightness with a bleak filter and clinical neutral colours. This rinse-and-repeat cycle borders on predictable and becomes detrimental to later episodes. It doesn’t help that the soundtrack can be a little too on-the-nose in parts. Fortunately, the diverse personalities of the characters, the charisma of the actors and the riveting storylines keep things from becoming too stale.

Full of stars on the rise and nuanced depictions of themes, Boarders is a witty and fantastic addition to the all-too-popular genre of coming-of-age teen dramas.

Mae Trumata

Boarders is released on 20^th February 2024.

Watch the trailer for Boarders here: