Forget ‘Off Campus,’ ‘Sterling Point’ Is This Year’s Best Teen Drama

That said, with its idyllic, pine tree-laden location (Sterling Point was primarily filmed around the Muskoka Lakes region in Canada) and actors with weirdly model-lish looks, this is still very much escapist TV. These teenagers get from place to place by boat and throw parties in lakeside log cabins and mainly just hang out in between their cash-in-hand jobs. Their problems are real and complicated, which keeps things pacy, but never harrowing. There is no “capital T” trauma here; you’re never left fearful that something truly awful is about to happen. And when much of modern life, particularly for young people, can feel as though it’s confined to the bright rectangle of iPhone screens, there’s something deeply soothing about watching a series so rooted in nature, and the slow building of human relationships.

So, yes, while Sterling Point fits within the recent wave of teen dramas, it will likely also appeal to those who want something more substantial than saccharine background TV to half-watch while simultaneously scrolling on their phones. It’s juicy and compelling enough to hold your attention, without setting your nervous system aflame like the most recent season of Euphoria—or edgier teen dramas of yore, like the British TV series Skins. Instead, it gradually draws you into its world and makes you comfortable there. By the time it’s over, you won’t want to leave.