High school is a messy time for the best of us, and Netflix embraces the beauty and hardship of that messiness with On My Block. The new series from Awkward's Lauren Iungerich along with Eddie Gonzalez and Jeremy Haft focuses on a group of friends growing up in Los Angeles.
The trailer introduces us to a core group of friends and the familiar faces in their orbit as they prepare for the unique torture of being teens – while navigating life in a rough neighborhood in South Central L.A. There's Cesar (Diego Tinoco), Ruby (Jason Genao), Monse (Sierra Capri), Jamal (Brett Gray), Olivia (Ronnie Hawk), and Jasmin (Jessica Marie Garcia). Notably, there are barely any white faces in the trailer – a reflection of the reality of South Central L.A. and of the diverse faces we need to be seeing on our screens.
The show isn't explicitly a comedy or drama; there's moments of both in the trailer, from the intensity of Cesar reckoning with a life of a crime to a few light-hearted one-liners from Jamal. Being on Netflix might give these teens some freedom to be more fully realized as people – and wouldn't that be something?
On My Block premieres March 16.
Topics Netflix
