First Kill, an 8-episode original series, premiered on Netflix during the peak of Pride celebrations, and it was all the representation the LGBTQIA+ community has been asking for. With a killer soundtrack and monsters you do not see coming, characters Juliette Fairmont (played by Sarah Catherine Hook) and Calliope Burns (played by Imani Lewis) gave us the love story we didn’t know we needed.
The show provides representation for young, Black queer girls. These girls are able to see themselves on screen as a genuine love interest and not just a tokenized character. Ben Wheeler (played by Jonas Dylan Allen) iconically plays Juliette’s openly gay, Black best friend. Both the Black community and LGBTQIA+ community are uniquely represented through the characters of First Kill.
As a Jamaican immigrant who often bemoans the absence of our actual culture on the big screen, I appreciated seeing the Jamaican #6 t-shirt worn by Apollo Burns (Dominic Goodman) in Episode 6, the Jamaican flag in Ben’s room and the airplay for “16 Shots” by Stefflon Don, a British-Jamaican artist.
This show was both thrilling and chilling and provides a unique coming-of-age story. Imagine falling in love with someone you were raised to kill. What are the chances of a newly-minted vampire and an eager monster hunter taking on the world together? First Kill had plot twists that made the show worth watching. The show takes the “let’s fight battles and run away together” trope to another level.
With a surprise every other minute in each episode, First Kill definitely takes the spot for one of the best-written plots I have ever seen.
By Khadejra Golding, Contributing Writer