What It Feels Like for a Girl

I have only watched one episode but can already tell this is a groundbreaking show. It has that honest raw queer depiction like Queer As Folk back then but with a deeper sensitivity akin to the film Beautiful Things. It balances humour, coming of age drama and sexuality with perfection. The lead Ellis Howard is fantastic and so are the rest of the cast. I must admit I was worried it would be one of these overstylized and over the top LGBTQ dramas with ridiculous storylines and fierce characters. It's the opposite, it shows the flaws, doubts and struggle of a young queer character but in a funny and original way. The writing reminds me of author Douglas Stuart but lighter. Also the UK 2000s rendition is spot on. I know where the story is going and I'm impatient to follow it.

I can understand how parts of Byron's experience may feel foreign to some viewers, but for anyone who came of age gay, trans, or queer around the turn of the millennium, this is a profound and often heartbreaking ride through our collective memory.

I saw myself in the gifted young gay boy who learned to wield wit as both armor and weapon, keeping me safe, pushing others away, and occasionally landing me in trouble. I was lucky enough to be more of a nerd, excelling in school early on and spared some of Byron's pain. But later in life, I too discovered how seductive the gay party scene can become.

So many of us have lived those questionable love affairs, those dizzying moments of clarity ("this is definitely not the room I want to be in") and yet also the euphoria of finding your people. A place where your femininity can finally exhale. Where a sharp tongue and a willingness to say yes to chaos feels like a skeleton key to every door.

The acting here is sublime: heart-wrenching and exquisitely funny. The settings are often bleak, rundown, almost depressing, yet pulsing with life. The glamour exists only in their heads, their hearts, and the chemical-fueled escapes from reality. The director and creative team captured every nuance.

I created an account just to write this review. I was that moved.

The only bad thing is that it's over in eight episodes.

First four episodes felt so timely, tight, subversive and is some of the best looking TV in recent memory.

I loved how uncomfortable the first few episodes make you feel, it's a tough watch. The relationships, specifically between Byron and their parents, were unconventional and complex and really interesting. It's just a shame that the latter half of the series doesn't really keep up with what was promised.

It seems to lose focus and derails for me. Some characters set up to be of importance are completely dropped and there are a few decisions later on that have little logic to them at all.

By the end I sort of felt nothing for these characters, which is such a shame considering how much I was rooting for them to begin with.

I felt like it could have been such a tight 4-6 episode series focussing on the earlier storyline.

Still enjoyable and totally worth watching, just could have been so much tighter.

I almost didn't watch What It's Like to Be a Girl-and that would have been a huge mistake. To be honest, the title didn't grab me. I didn't really know what the show was about, and I wasn't particularly interested. It just happened to auto-play after another series, and I'm so glad it did.

Let me be clear: this show is brilliant. The title doesn't do it justice at all. It's not just "what it's like to be a girl"-it's about survival, identity, trauma, joy, and everything in between. It's gritty, raw, real, and deeply emotional. I laughed, I cried, I winced, and I binge-watched the entire thing in one sitting. Some scenes are shocking and heart-wrenching, others are darkly funny and deeply moving-but they seem authentic.

The show sheds light on experiences we rarely see onscreen-especially the vulnerability of young people who are confused, questioning, or struggling with gender identity or sexuality. It highlights how predators exploit that confusion, and it doesn't shy away from the emotional and psychological turmoil that can follow. We rarely see exploitation through this lens on screen.

The acting from the entire cast is also brilliant. Every performance feels lived-in and deeply human. And Paris Lees is an inspirational woman. The fact that she was able to share her story with such honesty and depth is truly inspiring.

It's a shame that the BBC didn't promote this more. If this had been on Channel 4, I'm convinced it would've received the attention and marketing it so clearly deserves. It does seem like more of a channel 4 show .

Anyway, it was one of the most thought provoking shows I've watched in a long time and each ep drew me in and made me want to know more. I'd definitely recommend.

"What It Feels Like For A Girl" is the rare kind of TV series that seduces you slowly, then grabs you by the throat. Set at the turn of the millennium-when Y2K panic loomed large, the AIDS crisis lingered like smoke, and analog queer culture was on the verge of being swallowed whole by the digital age-this show is raw, dangerous, and electrifyingly intimate.

At the heart of the story is Byron, a beguiling character who embodies the beauty and brutality of the era. Byron isn't just a protagonist-he's a symbol of everything queer youth was navigating at the time: homophobia, poverty, and an aching, desperate need to be seen. His connection with Liam, a magnetic hustler surviving on petty crimes and half-truths, is the emotional (and erotic) core of the series. Their relationship is both transactional and tragic, smoldering with longing, lust, and unspoken truths.

Stylistically, the series draws clear inspiration from Gregg Araki's Doom Generation and The Living End-with its gritty, neon-soaked atmosphere and rebellious queer edge. It flirts with danger at every turn, refusing to sanitize the eroticism, thrill, or pain of queer existence in pre-social media times. Cruising culture, clubbing, and the art of wordless seduction pulse throughout, giving the show a visceral, nostalgic charge.

The writing is sharp, the soundtrack is a time capsule of late-'90s melancholy and defiance, and the performances-especially from the leads-are captivating. It's messy. It's sexy. It's heart-wrenching. And most of all, it's real.

For anyone who lived through that era-or wants to understand it-What It Feels Like For A Girl isn't just must-watch TV. It's a cultural reckoning.

Imagine if Euphoria and Gregg Araki had a lovechild raised on zines, raves, and queer rage-this is it.