Series: Paper Girls
Starring: Sofia Rosinsky, Riley Nelet, Ali Wong, Camryn Jones, Fina Strazza, Nate Corddry, Adina Porter
Streaming: Amazon Prime
Review: Klep Napier
Rating: 3X’s out of 5X’s
From a far, you might stop and think Paper Girls is simply the all girl version of Stranger Things when in fact, the Paper Girls are delivering an punk-ish multi-dimensional storyline adjacent to Sci-Fi action, lessons in womanhood, self awareness, friendship and holding one accountable for themselves.
Based on the popular graphic novel written by Brian K Vaughan, The Paper Girls follows four young paper girls in the 1980s, who on the morning after Halloween during their paper route, get thrusted through time after getting caught in the middle of an inter dimensional time war between two very suspicious groups of people.
The Girls, Tiffany, (Camryn Jones) Mac (Sofia Rosinsky), KJ (Fina Strazza) and Erin (Riley Nelet) are the secret sauce which seasons the dryer moments of the series. Although new comers to the screen, the four know these characters well enough to bring them to life in way that’s both relatable, and empathetic. First couple of episodes are an awkward slow start but once you get familiar, you find yourself caring enough for the drama to reel you in.
The pacing, however, can seem mundane. With episodes anywhere from 36 minutes to 54 minutes, the series takes its time to develop and build on its world and characters. This leaves the payoff bitter sweet whereas you find yourself wanting to care in the beginning with nothing to latch on to until the very end of most episodes.
This series has a massive amount of heart in a way that points the finger at you and asks, are you who your younger self always believed you would be today. And if not, where or WHEN did things go wrong and are you better today for all those things.
Aside from the foul language, overall Paper Girls is exactly the kind of series teens can use ones imagination to allow themselves to take something positive away from the tragedies of life.
Paper Girls also stars Ali Wong, Adina Porter Nate Corddry as Larry and is streaming 7/29 on Amazon Prime.