‘The Sex Lives of College Girls’ on HBO Max is a hilarious, sexy treat from Mindy Kaling

College is supposed to be the best years of your life — which may or may not be true (it’s okay to peak later), but it’s undeniably an exciting new chapter. For many, college is their first time away from home and family, a chance for reinvention and independence, no matter what you choose to do with it. College stories, a dime a dozen in Hollywood, tend to be fairly formulaic, but HBO Max’s The Sex Lives of College Girls promises the rich, raunchy storytelling that this unique stage of life deserves.

Created by Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble, The Sex Lives of College Girls follows four first years at a prestigious Vermont college: Student athlete Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott), aspiring comedy writer Bela (Amrit Kaur), legacy brat Leighton (Reneé Rapp), and the kind but naive Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet). They find each other the way so many college soulmates do: Randomly, in this case thanks to a dormitory assignment.

Despite a somewhat reductive title, The Sex Lives of College Girls is a rollicking good time and a rare TV show that really delves into the multifaceted and endlessly entertaining world of undergraduate shenanigans. Scott, Kaur, Rapp, and Chalamet have the kind of chemistry that lights up a scene and invites you in. Kaur’s raucous energy and Chalamet’s meticulous delivery run away with most of their scenes. Any combination of two or three of the girls works just as well as the full squad, like a Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants where the focus is also on other people’s pants.

Female friendship :’)
Credit: HBO

Fans of the Kaling oeuvre will recognize her comic rhythms, on display here with a knack for subverting our first impressions of these characters. Demure Kimberly doesn’t hesitate to stand up for herself, while prim and proper Leighton loves a good expletive. Bela is the most forward about her horny determination, but how it will manifest — from a naked party to a library meet cute to a concerning power move to get a writing job — will never be what you expect. There are pockets where the comedic tone shifts without warning, but the characters are at least at the same party (literally and figuratively) which sells those scenes instead of disorienting the viewer.

HBO provided critics with the first six episodes, during which the show is still uneven in handling the girls’ individual journeys. Some are romantic or sexual, some academic, some socioeconomic or familial, but no one is written out fully enough to have it all. Whitney feels the most underwritten for the first half of the season, where the focus is on a predictable relationship more than her athletics, academics, or the pressure of being a Senator’s daughter.

The show gets a little tenuous when it comes to such serious subjects: Whitney’s life beyond romance, Kimberly’s financial struggles, Leighton’s journey to accept herself. The bones are there, but so is the modern comedy reflex to speak to progressive ideas but still comfort those who fear political correctness. Leighton’s hours working at a women’s center provide stereotypical hypersensitive depictions of LGBTQIA+ students that never really go away, even as she immerses herself in their world.

But Sex Lives is, simply put, a whole lot of fun. After a one-hour premiere the 30-minute episodes fly by in a whirl of frat parties, one-liners, and deeply relatable subplots like obsessing over an Instagram comment or corroborating lies to please parents. It might look exactly like your college experience or not resemble it at all, but anyone who was ever that age can relate to the infinite, terrifying possibility of newfound maturity — or lack thereof.

The Sex Lives of College Girls is now streaming on HBO Max, with three weekly episodes Nov. 25 and Dec. 2, and the final two on Dec. 9.