'Off Campus' Review: Ella Bright and Belmont Cameli just gave us the best on-screen chemistry of the year

Off Campus (Based on the book series by Elle Kennedy)

Now streaming on Amazon Prime Video

Cast: Ella Bright, Belmont Cameli, Josh Heuston, Antonio Cipriano, Mika Abdalla and more

Created & teleplay: Louisa Levy

Rating - ***1/2 (3.5/5)

Two young people falling in love is obviously the oldest one-liner of a film or show and there is no counting how many variations have already been made on it. To think that we have another one out there might not sound like the most inspired idea, but that is only until you actually get on board with the ride that is Amazon Prime Video's Off Campus.

Based on Elle Kennedy's bestselling novels, we are introduced to college heartthrob and hockey team captain Graham, played by Belmont Cameli, who is as gorgeous as a young man can plausibly look, and then there is Hannah, played by Ella Bright, a bright and gifted musician and singer who actively hates hockey but happens to have a crush on a fellow musician.

Before one can fully settle in, these two thoroughly unlikely people form a faux relationship, a carefully negotiated deal that allows them to appear close to each other in order to get Justin's attention, played by Josh Heuston, but for other reasons layered underneath as well. As the tagline of the show puts it, love was never a part of their deal, and while the inevitable might seem obvious from the outset, Off Campus keeps unravelling threads that are surprisingly deep and intricately tied to each other the more invested you become.

The Usual Problem With Shows Like These

The biggest problem that usually plagues shows of this nature is when creators and writers begin treating their characters with a layer of thinly veiled shallowness, hiding behind the justification that these are young people who will inevitably make mistakes. That is precisely where the disconnect tends to happen for anyone who does not belong to that particular demographic anymore.

Creator Louisa Levy, along with her team of writers and directors, sidesteps that trap entirely. Courtesy of the source material already in their hands, the show treats its characters and their portrayal with genuine respect and dignity, while never losing sight of how obviously young, flawed and occasionally frivolous youth can be.

Youth in All Its Messy Glory

You see just how preposterous growing up can be and the lengths people will go to just to get someone's attention, sometimes at the cost of being entirely selfish about it. But that selfishness is never pushed so far that you begin despising these characters for all the wrong reasons.

Levy has several layers to offer Cameli and Bright, along with a wonderfully competent supporting cast, where the frivolity never entirely swallows the human emotions underneath, which remain pure and deeply relatable throughout. You see and understand the dichotomy every character is navigating and how, in several meaningful ways, they are the product of the personal demons they are quietly wrestling with.

Where the Show Gets Genuinely Brave

This is also where Off Campus earns its real credibility. The show weaves in commentary and a rather spectacular portrayal of themes like parental abuse, sexual abuse, consent and personal comfort, among several other things, and another genuine beauty of it is just how subtle and effective it manages to be without ever becoming loud or preachy about any of it.

There are scenes that might sound completely ludicrous on paper but have been performed with such integrity and care that they land with real emotional weight. What is also specifically worth noting is that despite the source novels being as explicit as anyone familiar with them will know, the show does not indulge in sex scenes that feel out of place or that sensationalise nudity in any gratuitous way. Everything feels organic and purposeful.

Where It Loses Its Footing

It is not to say that Off Campus is without its set of flaws. When it comes to exploring the character arcs of the supporting cast in particular, the show deviates a little too liberally at times and leaves loose ends dangling longer than is comfortable.

One understands that a second season has already been greenlit and that there is obviously scope to pick those threads back up, but even with that knowledge, certain storylines are hinted at effectively enough that they feel too significant to be left without at least a decent callback before being wound up further ahead. It is a structural frustration that the show could have handled with a little more economy.

The Performances That Hold It Together

Despite all of this, Off Campus never becomes too much to handle, which is genuinely something to be grateful for. A great deal of that is owed to the performances, with particular standouts being Antonio Cipriano as John Logan, Mika Abdalla as Allie, and Jalen Thomas Brooks as John Tucker, all of whom bring enough texture to their roles that they feel like real people rather than convenient plot devices.

But the whole thing rests squarely and confidently on the shoulders of Belmont Cameli and Ella Bright as Graham and Hannah respectively, and they deliver on every front asked of them.

The Leads That Make You Believe It

Cameli brings precisely the right amount of cockiness and carefree ease that a young man with his looks and social standing would naturally carry, but he also locates the vulnerability and warmth underneath it with a loving innocence that makes Graham genuinely worth rooting for. Bright does something equally impressive, perhaps even more so, because

Hannah on paper should not be invisible to anyone around her. Bright is so genuinely gorgeous that it requires a small leap of faith to believe her character is not being noticed, but she makes that leap entirely believable through the sheer subtlety of her performance. She brings in Hannah's naivete, her capacity for affection and love, while simultaneously holding onto the reality of a young flawed girl still contending with her own personal demons, and she does all of it with a quietness that never feels like underplaying.

The Verdict

Their performances elevate a script that was already doing a reasonable amount of heavy lifting on its own and sets things up with genuine anticipation for what the second season might deliver.

Off Campus is a surprisingly entertaining watch and if someone like me, for whom this genre has never remotely been home turf, can enjoy it as thoroughly as I did, one can only imagine how genuinely rewarding it must be for fans who already love what this kind of storytelling can offer at its best. This one sneaks up on you and before you know it, you are entirely on board.