Dark teen drama ‘13 Reasons Why’ comes to Netflix

Based on the novel of the same name by Jay Asher, the series explores the darker sides of teenage life in the USA. The 13 episodes go online Friday, March 31, on the American streaming site.

Netflix will be tackling some sensitive but relevant subjects with “13 Reasons Why”. The series explores the darker sides of teenage life, such as depression, bullying, suicide and academic pressure, and is co-produced by actress, singer and popular teen icon, Selena Gomez.

The series follows Clay Jensen, who returns home from school one day to find a mysterious parcel on his porch containing 13 video tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, a classmate who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Akin to a kind of secret diary, the tapes gradually explain the circumstances and key people somehow involved in the girl’s life and her decision to end it.

Over the course of the 13 episodes, Clay learns more about his crush, Hannah, who was struggling to deal with being humiliated, insulted, bullied and manipulated in various ways. However, it emerges that 12 other people, as well as Clay, have received these tapes, including classmates, friends, enemies and even a school counselor. So who is telling the truth? And who can Clay trust?

Selena Gomez and Tom McCarthy behind the camera

“13 Reasons Why” is based on a teen novel by Jay Asher, published 10 years ago in the United States. In 2011, Universal Studios had plans for a big-screen adaptation with Selena Gomez in the lead role. At the end of 2015, the project was picked up by Netflix and turned into a series. The star was then no longer envisaged in the role of Hannah Baker, but remained on the project as a producer.

A young, unknown Australian actress called Katherine Langford has instead been signed up for the lead, starring alongside Dylan Minette (“Scandal”, “Don’t Breathe”) in the role of Clay and Kate Walsh (“Grey’s Anatomy”, “Private Practice”) as the dead girl’s mother.

The production team also includes Tom McCarthy, the director of “Spotlight”, which won the Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay Oscars in 2016. McCarthy directed the show’s first two episodes. JB

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