Is Normal People Any Good? Worth Your Time? A Complete Review

Normal People dives into the beauty, complexities, and brutality of first love. It explores an intimate love with overlapping themes of class and the aftereffects of childhood trauma.

A script and screenplay that does justice to the novel and a lead actor duo that lives and breathes their characters Normal People excels in depicting a young adult relationship. A beautifully crafted show which is packed with emotion will jostle your memories of your first love.

1. Quick Review

The BBC/Hulu production follows the on-again-off-again relationship between two Irish teenagers. It depicts all the raw emotions and embarrassing memories that constitute young love.

What starts as a teenage love story transforms into something more precious by the end of the series. Normal People is an honest depiction of love and intimacy.

2. Is It Worth Watching?

Normal People Trailer (Official) | Hulu

Based on the book of the same name by Sally Rooney, who also acts as one of the executive producers, Normal People is an intense and riveting watch. It is an absorbing coming of age story with few if any critcisms.

I. Plot

Normal People follows the relationship between Marianne Sheridan and Connell Waldron from their days in secondary school to their time at Trinity College. During school, Marianne is an uptight, prickly student who comes from a very rich family.

This makes her the target of constant bullying and demeaning banter at school. She becomes close to Connell, whose mother works as a cleaner in Marianne’s house. As they start spending time together, they become friends and then lovers. The relationship is kept secret on Connell’s insistence. He is the popular football-playing jock of the school. He feels he would be ridiculed by his friends if they got to know about his relationship with Marianne.

When the high school romance ends, their paths diverge only to converge again at Trinity College. This time it is Connell who is unsure and struggling caught between the past and his popular small-town boy life and the present chaos of college.

Marianne is at home with her circle of elite friends and fits in perfectly. But, the intimacy and affection that they shared are still there. There is a genuine bond that gets tested by childhood trauma and new challenges.

II. Cast & Performances

Daisy Edgar-Jones, like Marianne, captures all the ferocity and acumen of her character. Her depiction of Marianne’s struggles at home and her traumatic past make her feel unloved, making the viewer connect with the character. She brings a combination of strength and vulnerability to the table.

Paul Mescal makes a TV debut to remember as Connell, the academically gifted boy with limited financial means. His fear of being ridiculed by his peers on his relationship and his struggle in transitioning from the small-town jock to a college student are relatable themes. The warmth and charm that make Marianne like him and his self-doubt are both handled exceptionally by Mescal.

The pair has palpable chemistry, and the scenes of raw intimacy with several close-up shots do not feel forced. They both handle the transition to college life well, molding their characters along the way.

They are well-supported by Sarah Greene, who plays Connell’s mother Lorraine and, like the book, always conveys great meaning in a few words. Aislin McGuckin as Marianne’s mother, Denise, is a woman of few words scarred by the abuse she suffered by her husband’s hand.

3. Why It Works

The show immerses you in the relationship between Marianne and Connell, who are together even when they’re not. The initial ecstasy of the first kiss and the beginning of the relationship is depicted beautifully.

The show generated a lot of buzz for the many many sexual encounters it features, which are depicted on-screen like never before. The sex is passionate and imperfect, with a lot of giggles and fumbling involved. The scenes are explicit, but they still manage to depict the feelings that the duo shares for each other, which they have to hide in school.

The conflicting and compatible personalities and the opening up to each other, letting them into your emotional trauma is all there. The highs and the lows, the embarrassing as well as the exciting, the show manages to treat a high-school romance with respect. It treats a young adult relationship with respect. It explores the impact that a person’s first love has in shaping their personality.

The decision to split up the series into 12 30-minute episodes instead of the traditional 6 is also a masterstroke. Often when the show triggers your feelings and memories, a break is welcome as you remember your youthful days. It also keeps you coming back for more and proves that your first love is imprinted on your psyche.

Connell doesn’t stand up to Marianne’s bullies when she is dating someone else and when the repressed trauma comes in the way of their relationship, there are multiple hitches that the two navigate through. Normal People shows us how people evolve and mature over the years with excellent performances.

4. Final Thoughts

Normal People explores the mark that a high school romance and first love leaves on a person and how it helps shape their personality.

With excellent acting and a screenplay that does justice to the novel, this is a great coming of age story for people of all ages. This show will certainly connect to some part of your relationship and memory if you have loved someone before.

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