What the world pretty much always needs is a damn good high school show. And with Euphoria being on hiatus and those Riverdale kids finally graduating from their spookyass comic book town, HBO Max has emerged from under the bleachers to satisfy our craving for cool kids pushing losers into lockers on their way to sit the biology final.
Or not quite. This being 2021, Genera+ion focuses on a crew of Gen-Z kids who have evolved far past the jock/nerd dichotomy and are contending with 21st century problems. For added realism, it's even helmed by a bona fide teenager: 19-year-old Yale student Zelda Barnz. She co-created the series with her film director dad Daniel Barnz, and Lena Dunham is producing.
In the key art released by HBO Max today, we get a glimpse of a diverse cast, headed up by 2019 PAPER prediction Justice Smith. Smith stars as Chester, a fashion-forward and openly queer high schooler who finds himself at odds with the conservative-minded adults around him. Other Instagrams to follow: Nathanya Alexander, Chloe East, Chase Sui Wonders, Uly Schlesinger, Haley Sanchez and Lukita Maxwell.
The show is already making headlines for featuring actual dead cats in a lab dissection scene. We told you these kids were for real! The first three episodes of Genera+ion premiere on HBO Max on Thursday, March 11, and you can watch the trailer below.
Photo courtesy of HBO Max