Leave it to Australia to put a fun twist on the apocalypse. The end of the world has had a resurgence in pop culture recently, and Prime Video’s Class of ‘07 is the latest — and one of the greatest, IMO — instalment. Here’s the TL;DR on Class of ‘07: an apocalyptic tidal wave hits during the 10-year reunion of an all-girls high school. Now stranded from the rest of the world — and unsure if the rest of the world is even still alive — the girls must find a way to work together to survive. As if the end of the world wasn’t enough, they’re also stuck on an island with their high school bullies and their ex-best friends who they haven’t seen in 10 years.
It’s a premise we haven’t seen before, made even fresher by the Australian cast and creators, including Emily Browning and Caitlin Stasey. And true to Aussie television form, it’s hilarious with moments of darkness lobbed into the mix to keep things from ever being too saccharine or irreverent. Here’s why we’re loving Class of ‘07 and why it should be your next show to watch.
IT’S HILARIOUS
When I watched the trailer for Class of ‘07, my jaw was on the floor. I knew vaguely that it was a comedy about a high school reunion gone wrong but I didn’t know that half of the school would literally fall into the sea during the party. And that’s only the start! The girls’ rescue and survival efforts quickly spiral. They collectively panic at 4am, sign off their giant “HELP” messages with doodles of breasts, raid the teacher’s supply of confiscated junk food and punch each other in the tit when they’re angry. And there are many more moments that made me genuinely laugh out loud that are too good and too surprising to spoil for you here.
IT’S GOT A GREAT CAST
Class of ‘07 centres on the strained friendship between Zoe (Emily Browning), Amelia (Megan Smart) and Saskia (Caitlin Stasey). They’re all fantastic in the roles, especially Stasey, who plays the ex-high school mean girl with such charm that you never really know if she’s really a changed woman or if she’s secretly still awful. Relative newcomer Smart is also fantastic as Amelia, who’s the emotional core of the show. And Browning’s Zoe breaks up the tense moments with a witty one-liner or a funny facial expression. Together with the supporting cast, which includes Steph Tisdell, Chi Nguyen, Emma Horn, Sarah Krndija and Claire Lovering, the women of Class of ‘07 hold everything together even during the most outrageous moments.
IT ACKNOWLEDGES THAT HIGH SCHOOL IS CHALLENGING FOR EVERYONE
This is quite literally the underlying plot of the show. Main characters Zoe (Emily Browning) and Amelia (Megan Smart) were best friends in high school but had a mysterious falling out. For them, the worst part of the apocalypse is being stuck with each other, as they both blame the other for their friendship breakup and neither knows the truth about why it really happened. This is especially true for Amelia, who was taken out of school for secretive reasons — but we don’t have to know why it happened to know it messed her up.
Interestingly, Class of ‘07 also explores the hidden ways high school can mess us up. Saskia (Caitlin Stasey) was the popular girl at school and quickly slips back into the mean girl role after the disaster. But even she says, “This school f**ked me up in ways that I don’t think you could possibly imagine.” I’m sure no matter what you thought of high school, you’d also hate being stuck back there with your classmates.
IT’S VERY AUSTRALIAN
Here’s a list of Australian jokes and references I counted in the first few episodes of Class of ‘07:
- Wish chips
- Vegemite
- Saying “here if you need” in netball.
- Meat pies from the school canteen
- Abbreviating every word over 5 letters (Zoe calls the apocalypse “the poco”)
IT’S A FEMINIST APOCALYPSE STORY
In addition to food shortages and power outages, the girls are also struggling with depression, anxiety, birth control, hormone injections for IVF and more. It’s refreshing to see a show address things like feminine hygiene and mental health, especially since almost everyone would experience them during a real life apocalypse.
“Don’t for a second underestimate the pain of being back here,” Saskia tells the girls in a rousing motivational speech. “All of our teenage baggage has floated to the surface and now we’re stuck with the people we thought we’d know forever until boys and jobs and forks in the road got in the way.”
Even their survival plan is to divide and conquer, and they establish a society that, for the most part, looks out for one another. Class of ‘07 is a testament to female friendship and the amazing things women can achieve together — even during the end of the world.
Class of ‘07 is now streaming on Prime Video. Start your free 30-day Prime Video trial today.
