The Atlantic

What <em>Sierra Burgess </em>Gets Wrong About Consent

The Netflix rom-com, starring Shannon Purser (<em>Stranger Things</em>) and Noah Centineo (<em>To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before),</em> disappointingly fails to indict the protagonist’s deceptive behavior.
Source: Aaron Epstein / Netflix

It was hard not to want Sierra Burgess Is a Loser to win.

The teen rom-com, which began streaming on Netflix last Friday, seems strategically constructed for maximum likability. Written by Lindsey Beer and directed by Ian Samuels, the film stars Shannon Purser, who won a cult following as ’ Barb Holland, as the titular character. Sierra is shy, unassuming, and outrageously smart—the perfect template for the kind of rom-com heroine it’s easiest to root for. Noah Centineo, who claimed a million hearts with his performance as the sensitive heartthrob in , plays opposite Purser. As the quarterback Jamey, Centineo once again

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Atlantic

The Atlantic4 min read
Hayao Miyazaki’s Anti-war Fantasia
Once, in a windowless conference room, I got into an argument with a minor Japanese-government official about Hayao Miyazaki. This was in 2017, three years after the director had announced his latest retirement from filmmaking. His final project was
The Atlantic4 min read
When Private Equity Comes for a Public Good
This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. In some states, public funds are being poured into t
The Atlantic4 min readAmerican Government
How Democrats Could Disqualify Trump If the Supreme Court Doesn’t
Near the end of the Supreme Court’s oral arguments about whether Colorado could exclude former President Donald Trump from its ballot as an insurrectionist, the attorney representing voters from the state offered a warning to the justices—one evoking

Related Books & Audiobooks