Television series

Euphoria

Name: Euphoria
Genre: Drama, Crime, Thriller
Released: 2019
Cast: Zendaya, Maude Apatow, Alexa Demie, Hunter Schafer, Sydney Sweeney

Euphoria is Sam Levinson's neon-soaked, needle-sharp portrait of American teenagers drowning in drugs, sex, and the performance of a life lived through screens. Visually intoxicating — glitter makeup, slow-motion wreckage, a wall-to-wall soundtrack — it swings from tenderness to horror inside a single episode. Watch it for the aesthetic rush and Zendaya's raw nerve of a performance; know its beauty never lets you look away from real damage.

TVMaze rating

6.7

If you liked this

Skins2007

Before Euphoria there was Skins — same ensemble structure, same unflinching teenage chaos, same willingness to let characters be genuinely unlikeable and still worth loving.

But Shakier production values and a full cast turnover every two seasons can feel jarring if you want consistency.

Sex Education2019

Same raw honesty about teenage sex and identity, but warmer and funnier — it argues empathy and mess can coexist without spiraling into tragedy.

But Its sunnier tone and tidier resolutions might feel too gentle if you're craving Euphoria's intensity.

Kids1995

Larry Clark's unblinking, almost documentary look at teenagers loose in a lawless city predates Euphoria's aesthetic by decades and still shocks with its casualness about harm.

But No stylization to soften it — this is grainy, hand-held, deliberately uncomfortable filmmaking.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Christiane F.1981

Both follow a teenage girl's descent into addiction inside a subculture that glamorizes its own destruction — this one did the neon-lit ruin decades earlier, minus any visual sugar-coating.

A real teenager's true story of Berlin heroin addiction, scored by David Bowie, shot with a bleakness that makes Euphoria's stylization look almost merciful by comparison.

But No irony, no beauty filter — this is grim 1981 European arthouse, and it earns every bit of its discomfort.

13 Reasons Why2017no page yet

Shares Euphoria's interest in how trauma ripples through a school and how social media turns private pain into public spectacle.

But More melodramatic and moralizing, with a slower, talkier pace that lacks Euphoria's visual electricity.

Trainspotting1996

Danny Boyle's addiction odyssey has the same kinetic camera tricks, needle-drop soundtrack, and refusal to make drug use look anything but seductive before it destroys.

But Its dated slang and grubbier 90s Edinburgh setting feel worlds away from Euphoria's glossy suburbia.

Spring Breakers2013

Harmony Korine's neon fever dream of teenage hedonism shares Euphoria's saturated colour palette and interest in beauty as a mask for rot.

But Thin on plot and character — it's mood and image over story, which can feel hollow by the end.

Élite2018

A glossy Spanish series stirring together teen sex, class conflict, and murder mystery — pure soapy pleasure if you want Euphoria's melodrama without the emotional weight.

But Subtitles required, and its whodunit plotting prioritizes twists over the psychological depth Euphoria goes for.

Requiem for a Dream2000

Aronofsky's addiction spiral shares Euphoria's hallucinatory camera work and refusal to look away from the body horror of substance abuse.

But Unrelentingly bleak with no levity to break the tension — a genuinely punishing watch.

My So-Called Life1994

The quiet ancestor of every prestige teen drama since — the first show to treat adolescent longing and confusion as worthy of serious, careful attention.

But Cancelled after one season, tame by modern standards, and its earnestness lacks Euphoria's danger and spectacle.

BoJack Horseman2014

Swap the glitter eyeliner for talking cartoon animals and you get the same unflinching study of addiction, self-sabotage, and the lies people tell themselves to keep going.

An animated tragicomedy that uses jokes and an absurdist premise to sneak up on devastating truths about depression and addiction — surprisingly the more honest show.

But Takes a season or two to shed its silly sitcom skin before the emotional gut-punches start landing.

Beach Rats2017no page yet

Same terrain — a teenager caught between desire, drugs, and an identity he can't yet name — but stripped of Euphoria's music-video gloss down to something quiet and aching.

A minimalist, near-wordless portrait of a closeted Brooklyn teen drifting toward danger, proving the same story can devastate without a single needle-drop or slow-motion shot.

But Deliberately slow and opaque, with almost no dialogue — the opposite of Euphoria's sensory overload, which might frustrate rather than satisfy.