Maxton Hall: The World Between Us Review – Predictable Max
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
The ‘handsome, sexy, rich boy’ – ‘smart but poor girl’ trope seems to be romance’s favorite love-child. Fans love to read about the girl getting swept off her feet in a private jet, no less, and frankly, it’s beginning to get tiring. It’s not like I am completely jaded with the genre. I did enjoy the recent Anne Hathaway Movie – “The Idea of You,” where a single working mom is romanced by a dashing superstar singer (they travel around in a private jet), and I loved “Young Royals,” where a literal prince woos a poor scholarship student. But this (Maxton Hall), this was just not it. But if you haven’t read or seen enough ‘rich person falls for poor person’ tales, then you might just like the 2024 German teen romance series “Maxton Hall: The World Between Us” (Original title: Maxton Hall – Die Welt zwischen uns) a lot more than I did.
Directed by Tarek Roehlinger and Martin Schreier, this six-part series is based on the novel “Save Me” by Mon Kasten. The first episode opens with a sensual shot of a shirtless Damian Hardung, who plays the primary protagonist, James Beaufort, a popular, wealthy teen playboy attending the elite Maxton Hall, a school for the super-rich. Harriet Herbig-Matten portrays Ruby Bell, a scholarship student who prefers to remain invisible on campus until she accidentally walks in on her classmate Lydia Beaufort (Sonja Weißer) doing something she shouldn’t be. While Ruby quickly extricates herself from the scene, a panic-stricken Lydia seeks her brother’s help. Keen to keep his sister’s secret, James Beaufort sets out to silence Ruby Bell, but as the two spend more time together, their feelings of mutual hatred turns into love.
Visually, “Maxton Hall: The World Between Us” looks great, on par with any other OTT show with a decent budget to bankroll pretty sets, stylish clothes, and attractive actors. It also has a killer soundtrack, featuring popular romantic English songs sprinkled throughout the runtime. However, the plot is ridiculously formulaic, the dialogues are mundane, and there’s zero fun banter between the high-school kids. Ruby Bell’s younger sister, Ember (Runa Greiner), is the only cheerful and relatable character in the show.
The biggest twist of “Maxton Hall: The World Between Us” occurs in episode one itself, after that, it’s one predictable turn after the other. Except for one scene that managed to get a small laugh out of me, I had a bored expression throughout the six episode, sadly wondering why Amazon Prime Video not give viewers the option to speed-up their videos.
Warning – minor story spoilers ahead
A major sub-plot in “Maxton Hall: The World Between Us” was simply a big ‘ick’ for me – in the first episode, Ruby Bell accidentally walks in on Lydia Beaufort making out with their literature teacher Graham Sutton (Eidin Jalali). The writers romanticize the teacher-student relationship as the plot progresses, with Lydia explaining how she and Graham had known each other for months before he was hired to teach at Maxton Hall, which only makes their story more problematic – because in the current timeline, Lydia is 18 and if her dalliance with Graham goes back several months, she would’ve been a minor. Lydia’s story continues to get worse by the last episode, even though the makers try to dress it in a progressive light.
There aren’t any villains in the story, except for James Beaufort’s classist dad Mortimer Beaufort, who is played perfectly by Fedja van Huêt – Mr Mortimer is egoistic, manipulative, ruthless and solely driven by monetary benefits and social reputation. So, evil rich dad versus ‘teens in love’ becomes the primary conflict in “Maxton Hall: The World Between Us” towards the second half.
Damian Hardung is undeniably stunning as James Beaufort; however, the character’s transformation from a brash, promiscuous brat to a deeply caring and artistic guy with a heart felt entirely unconvincing and hokey. Why a girl like Ruby Bell falls for him after her initial hatred is also not convincing (yeah, it’s just for the good looks and body). Besides, their chemistry is lukewarm at best.
As if the story wasn’t slow and predictable enough, “Maxton Hall: The World Between Us” doesn’t even end conclusively! The climax does mark a “happy ending” of sorts between the primary leads, yet ends in a way that makes it feel like a lot more seasons are on the way. I don’t think I would want to watch a season two.
You can stream the series on Prime Video.
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