Youth Review
Director: Jim O'Hanlon and Dawn Shadforth
Date Created: 2026-09-22 02:54
3.5
Youth Review: Directed by Jim O’Hanlon and Dawn Shadforth, created, written and starring Sharon Horgan as Alex, alongside Libby Mai as Plum, Nadia Parkes as Cara, Scarlett Rayner as Bridget, Harrison Dadswell as Teddy, Rupert Friend as Patrick, Sharlene Whyte as Sam, Aran Murphy as Ruarí and others. The HBO series has 8 episodes, and in India it is also streaming on JioHotstar.
Youth Review
HBO’s Youth revolves around Alex, who is a divorcee and a literary agent who, for the first time in her life, starts facing the reality that the life she has built isn’t as secure as she thinks. Her son Ruarí is moving out to pursue higher education, her mother has health issues, her father is suffering from early stages of Alzheimer’s, and Alex herself is reminded of her age by her own body. While attending an important meeting at work, Alex’s jaw locks up, and she realises that she suffers from arthritis in her lower jaw. For Alex, this condition is not just another physical issue but has deeper implications.
The main point of interest in the first two episodes of the HBO series Youth is that it does not look at ageing as a single issue in itself. Rather, Alex links this to everything else that she does. She pays attention to the age of others; she is obsessed with Michael’s being 67 years old while on the awful date and finds it more and more difficult to accept anything that signifies ageing. At the same time, Alex’s son goes against everything she wants him to do.
While Alex expects her son to grow up and move on, he decides to give up university and pursue stand-up comedy instead. Her frustration with him is quite justifiable, but at the same time she seems to be having problems accepting the loss of her power to control what will happen next.
However, another storyline that adds to the complexity of the 2026 Youth series is Ruarí’s story. There definitely was something going on between Ruarí and Bridget in their time at the university, and the series purposely does not provide Alex or the viewer with any clarification of what really occurred. Ruarí was labelled a “pervert,” his possessions were put into bin bags, and even Bridget refuses to talk to him when she meets him. As for what I appreciated in this storyline, it was the fact that the show does not immediately make everything into a one-sided accusation or defence. Alex is desperate to know what really happened, while Ruarí simply refuses to clarify anything.
In particular, Sharon Horgan is really great at giving Alex a reason to feel frustrated without losing sight of her motives entirely. She can be selfish, judgmental, and extremely impulsive, but one could also understand where some of those reactions came from. Take her horrible date with Michael, for instance. She spent too much of their time together thinking about how old he was, so she didn’t give herself a chance to get to know the man sitting across from her. Then, when everything ends badly, she runs right back into Patrick’s arms because that’s a comfortable relationship to go back to.
Another facet of Alex emerges in Rupert Friend’s Patrick. The relationship begins as a casual one, but Alex ends up making the decision to want more from him. I appreciate the fact that the series doesn’t immediately paint Patrick as the perfect romantic solution to all her troubles. Alex lets it all out to Patrick, who realises how much is on her plate, while she thinks it shows that he can’t even begin to relate to what she goes through. One of my favourite scenes in the series is where they have this fight where neither of them is entirely wrong. Alex feels overwhelmed, but Patrick is correct in saying that she’s trying to do it all at once.
The workplace story adds yet another level of story for Sharon Horgan’s Youth series. Alex and Sam are friends and co-workers, but the fact that they are fighting about the future of the agency and signing Damian Lewis proves that their professional relationship is starting to fall apart. At the same time, Malcolm, whom Alex rejected before, is now a success because his self-published book “Goblin Seed” became a viral sensation. I really liked this part because it makes Alex look at how someone who did not have her confidence was able to become successful anyway.
These were times when Youth would have seemed to be juggling too many issues concerning Alex at once. The university problem of her son, the deteriorating health of her mother, that of her father, her career, Patrick and her fears about ageing might very well have become the never-ending list of the troubles faced by a person during mid-age years. Fortunately, the narrative technique helps keep all these issues interlinked. All that they seem to do is to compel Alex to accept an ugly truth.
HBO Youth Review: Summing Up
Now that I have watched two episodes, I am loving the 2026 HBO series Youth in that it appreciates that just because someone is older doesn’t mean that he or she becomes wise and emotionally stable. Alex is able to make some of the most stupid mistakes, feel envious, be petty and demand things which she feels are going to be bad for her. This makes the character a lot more exciting. In the show, there has been developed quite an interesting lead, complex relationships and a plot which can suddenly shift from something very amusing to something that is completely awkward.
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