Stranger Things Fans Will Love Netflix's Brilliant New Teen Show (2024)

Netflix dropped a sneak peek at its new series I Am Not Okay With This this week and contrary to its title, we’re definitely into this show.

The series follows Sydney, a “boring, 17-year-old white girl” living in a small, sleepy town — sound familiar, Stranger Things fans? Played by Sophia Lillis (It, Sharp Objects), Syd reveals some anger issues bubbling just under the surface, which initially manifests in knocking over trash cans, breaking pencils, and cutting her hair off.

But there’s more to Syd’s life (and temper) than meets the eye. I Am Not Okay With This is based on Charles Forsman’s 2017 graphic novel of the same name, and it takes the familiar premise of a John Hughesian high school coming-of-age story and infuses it with the supernatural. As the trailer reveals in a plot twist halfway through, Syd has superpowers.

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It looks like super strength (she accidentally knocks over a street sign after throwing a pebble at it)but she also appears to make things move and float later in the trailer. After her powers first manifest, Syd tries to rationalise it: “It’s probably just puberty,” she says in a voiceover.

But even she doesn’t sound convinced by the puberty explanation. She vents to her diary, talks to her neighbour and crush, Stanley (Wyatt Oleff, also of It fame), and best friend, Dina (Sofia Bryant), and tries to learn how to control what’s happening to her. She’ll need to, too, and fast — the trailer hints that she eventually finds herself in some trouble with law enforcement, not to mention some drama with high school bullies.

I Am Not Okay With This comes from 21 Laps Entertainment, the production team behind Stranger Things; Jonathan Entwhistle, the director of The End Of The F***ing World; and co-creator, writer, and executive producer Christy Hall. (I Am Not Okay With This shares some DNA with at least one of these properties: Forsman also wrote the comic book that The End Of The F***ing World was based on.) Considering its premise and aesthetic, I Am Not Okay With This aims to capture the same teen angst, supernatural twists, and small-town nostalgia that keeps fans coming back to those shows —and it looks like yet another binge-worthy addition to our Netflix queues.

I Am Not Okay With This drops on Netflix on 26th February.