Based on Mona Kasten’s bestseller Save Me, the series arrived May 9 on Prime Video: the most watched in the first week of any non-US original title on the platform (it is produced by German UFA Fiction). “Maxton Hall – The World Between Us shows once again that local stories have the power to captivate global audiences,” said James Farrell, VP International Originals at Amazon MGM Studio. Will it prove as popular as the Spanish series Elite, also set in an exclusive private school? Will it consolidate the welcome trend of European successes? More importantly, will it do for 25-year-old heartthrob Damian Hardung what Netflix’s Elite did for Manu Rios’ career?
Courtesy Prime Video.
Hardung is no stranger to TV. Playgirl set eyes on him in the Italian mini-series The Name of the Rose (2019), where he gave new dimensions (and new sex appeal) to the character first molded by Christian Slater. But Maxton Hall’s teen romance is bound to catapult Hardung to stardom. The ingredients? The love story with Harriet Herbig-Matten; Hardung’s chiseled body well on display; the private school somewhat reminiscent of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts and Saltburn’s Oxford: “Maxton Hall College is not just a school, it’s one of THE schools,” the trailer tells us (and we can’t help thinking of Eton or UWC Atlantic College in Wales.)
‘Maxton Hall’ • Photo: Prime Video/Stephan Rabold.
What is this “World in Between US?”: the same (archetypal) class divide depicted in Cinderella and in Saltburn (another HUGE Prime Video success): Hardung’s character is an arrogant millionaire (“more money and power than the royal family”); Harriet’s is just “invisible,” no less so than Keoghan’s Oliver in Saltburn. But the romance twist changes everything for them… and for the audience (92% score on Rotten Tomatoes), happy to binge-watch the six episodes and thirsty for more. It’s no surprise Maxton Hall was renewed for a second season.
Instagram: @damianhardung
‘Maxton Hall’ • Photo: Prime Video/Stephan Rabold.
