Move over, Rue. There’s a new, messy, repressed protagonist in town. And this one knows how to rap “Super Bass”! Benito Skinner’s Overcompensating is the queer, chaotic, college coming-of-age dramedy we’ve been overdue for.
Unlike the stylized, trauma-core pacing of Euphoria, Overcompensating is charming in its control. In fact, it is even more powerful BECAUSE of it.
Skinner, known for his viral Instagram alter egos and sharp parodies, plays Benny, a former high school football star turned painfully closeted college freshman. In the first five minutes, he tells his mirror he “loves pussy”, while the show swiftly contradicts him with flashbacks of shirtless Brendan Fraser and awkward prom kisses.
But what might have become a one-joke sketch about denial instead blossoms into a full-bodied quest for queer identity, grief, bro culture, and the lies we tell to stay liked. And yes, it’s hilarious. But it’s also unexpectedly tender.
Overcompensating Ditches the Trauma-Aesthetic
Where Euphoria thrives on shock value (bathroom coitus and baby cigarette-eating chaos), Overcompensating dares to go smaller and smarter.
Now, of course, Sam Levinson has told the Television Academy: “I just follow the emotion. (…) It’s not an intellectual process whatsoever.” Despite this admission, Overcompenstating’s shirt-tearing, chest-beating, lyric-screaming scenes feel like soul-tinged satire. And it is definitely better writing.
The genius isn’t just in the jokes (though Carmen’s roommate Hailee, played by Holmes, delivers walking-TMI perfection), but in the subtle moments: Benny recoiling from a kiss, Carmen reckoning with her brother’s death, a whole class all agreeing to their favourite “film” being The Godfather.
Skinner plays Benny “almost entirely straight,” both emotionally and performance-wise, and it works. We see him wrestle with frat culture’s hyper-masculinity and his internalized repression, while trying to get a business degree he doesn’t want.
The real win? Overcompensating makes these explorations feel warm and accessible. It proves you can discuss masculinity and queerness without setting your cast on fire (we’re looking at you, Sam Levinson).
Adam DiMarco, fresh off The White Lotus, steals scenes as Peter, a ludicrous yet human frat bro whose love language is “yee”s and male bonding. His absurd, testosterone-fueled antics parody Euphoria’s Nate Jacobs without flattening him into a punchline. And that’s where Overcompensating hits. It laughs at the characters, but it never stops loving them.
Less Trauma, More Truth
While Euphoria often feels like an endurance test, Overcompensating gives viewers something they rarely get in modern teen dramas: space to FEEL. Sure, there’s chaos. There’s a Nicki Minaj dorm karaoke moment. There’s a high-on-testosterone orgy of shirt-ripping frat bros.
But beneath the aesthetic lies a genuine heart. Benny’s slow embrace of his identity and Carmen’s mourning aren’t just plotlines. They’re the soul of the series. And while the Charli XCX subplot could’ve used more sparkle (especially with their real-life friendship), the show is more than the sum of its nostalgic beats.
It’s also worth noting that this isn’t just a vibe-forward show.
The writing is tight, the jokes land, and the cast feels like actual people, not mood boards. In an era when coming-of-age stories often lean too hard into either cynicism or trauma, Overcompensating delivers that rare, sacred thing: vulnerability without spectacle.
Overcompensating is streaming on Prime Video
