What is a vertical series? Well, it’s a micro-drama, set in 1-4 minute digestible episodes, meant to watch on your phone. They are highly addictive, and your credit card will hate you for loving them. They suck your wallet dry, but I mean, at least they leave you with a good time.
But they could take us to dinner first, cause the price definitely makes us feel sick. While apps are expensive and you may be wondering where to start, I would start with Candy Jar. ReelShort is also good, but Candy Jar has a lot of higher-quality productions. Dramabox is a good one too. I will tell you this: some of them are so badly made, so offensive, and so WTF that you may not even know what you are even looking at.
You’ll never want to hear the term “good girl” again, you’ll wonder why people think that slapping is always necessary, and you’ll ask yourself how many times people can get kidnapped. You won’t wanna have anyone explain what a dom and a submissive are ever again (it will be uncomfortable sometimes). Some are absolutely ridiculous and boring, while some are captivating, and you won’t be able to look away.
Verticals are like a box of chocolates; you never know what you are going to get.
These things are not perfect, but what in life is? They are a good time, and hey, why not have one of those? Here are some good ones to get you started.
Legally Sexy and Mr. Ice Cold
Starring: Erin Orcutt, Shay Dinneen, & Anna Surdina
Synopsis: Law student’s one-night stand with billionaire leads to pregnancy. Her sister steals her identity to become his fiancée. Years later, she returns as a lawyer with their daughter to reveal the truth.
Why It’s A Fave: Erin Orcutt and Shay Dinneen have good chemistry on the screen and on TikTok. It’s the chemistry between these two that will make you want to watch and not exit out. We need more of them together.
There are a lot of verticals about one-night stands, and for some reason, no one ever seems to remember what the person they slept with looks like. I mean, come on now. But they always come back together and find their way back to each other. Most of the time, there is a baby involved, and there will always be a mistake made in the paternity. Almost makes you wonder if anyone knows how to do their job.
It’s a ride all the way through – filled with a kid that is the worst, a sister that is the lowest of the low, and another child that is as sweet as pie. Always amazed by an ending where someone shows up in a matter of seconds when you know they had to travel across LA or New York in traffic.
Watch it on Dramabox.
Pucked by My Brother’s Rival
Starring: Hannah Lowery & Evan Adams
Synopsis: If there’s one thing in this world Jenny would never do, it’s defy her brother Samuel. But Xavier appears, the arrogant, too-hot-for-his-own-good hockey god who’s her brother’s worst enemy-and shatters all of good girl Jenny’s principles.
Why It’s A Fave: Look, I entered my hockey era this year, and I don’t mind at all. Pucked By My Brothers Rival kept showing up in my ads, and finally, I wanted to see it. Blame Evan Adams, because I came for the abs and stayed for the acting.
A really, really bad date had Xavier taking Jenny home and tossing her stubborn self over his shoulder, smacking her behind and telling her that she should have worn his jacket. When the two entered his room, the fight that happened right after that had us hooked.
Lowery and Adams were enjoyable to watch. His bringing Xavier to life with a cocky attitude and her bringing Jenny to life with a mix of vulnerability, discovery, and strength – it’s hard not to believe in these two and become hooked on both their performances.
Watch it on Dramabox.
His Sweet Bella
Starring: Sarah-Grace Donnelly, Jackson Tiller, & Jeff Coppage
Synopsis: A young woman becomes a nanny for a powerful mafia boss’s niece, only to be pulled into his world of crime, danger, and a forbidden desire. As secrets surface and enemies close in, she must fight for survival while resisting a man who would either protect her or destroy her completely.
Why It’s A Fave: There are a few actors that you will become really familiar with watching vertical series, and one of those people – Jackson Tiller. The man with the elephant trunk (it’s a tattoo on his hand) is how he was first described to me. His tattoos, his muscles, and the oozing of charm will make you want to watch everything that he is in.
In this movie, he plays a mafia boss, and he is protecting a young woman named Bella. She once saved him, and he told her that she could come to him for anything. When she does something that could get her killed, his protection is the only thing to save her.
This was one of the first mafia dramas that I watched in a vertical, and I was hooked. Tiller is a big reason why. He will make you want to watch every vertical that he is in.
Watch it on Dramabox.
Professor, I’m Addicted to You
Starring: Tyler Scherer & Bella Mraz
Synopsis: A passionate one-night stand leads to forbidden feelings when Jade realizes Ethan is her teacher. Caught between their secret attraction and his vengeful ex, their romance becomes a dangerous game that threatens them both.
Why It’s A Fave: Another name that you will become very familiar with in the vertical space is Tyler Scherer. He’s everywhere, and that’s definitely not a bad thing. Professor, I’m Addicted To You has Schreer starring as Ethan Carter, a hot professor who falls for a student.
Bella Mraz plays Jade, a young woman who sold herself for one night in order to pay for medical issues of her parent. Now, let me be the first to say that there is an issue with this, because it’s common in verticals to be a virgin and either selling it or being involved in a disgusting auction where a girl’s virginity is sold. I also am like a teacher/student relationship? Definitely not a thing that anyone endorses.
This is fiction, and they do make sure that the student is of age, which I can respect. They also make sure that the student is in a position of control.
Jade didn’t expect to have Ethan as her professor. She also didn’t expect to carry on a relationship and fall in love. The dean wants a relationship with Ethan, and when she finds that Ethan is carrying on one with Jade, she blackmails her. It sets Jade and Ethan on a tumultuous road to be together.
I admit that I didn’t expect to love this series, but I did. Scherer’s verticals are always something to watch.
Watch it on Drama TV.
Tell Me Not to Love You
Starring: Hannah Lowery & Luke Dodge
Synopsis: Brie is the daughter of a servant who works for Teddy’s family. She grew up living in the household with her mother and developed mutual feelings for the young master, Teddy. Once they came of age, Teddy began pursuing Brie passionately.
Why It’s A Fave: I love the they can’t be together but defy everyone to be together trope. Brie and Teddy have grown up together – only he’s her mom’s boss’s son. Her Mom is the maid at Teddy’s house.
Since they were young, Teddy has always had a crush on Brie. She doesn’t dare dream that big, but when she transfers to the same school as Teddy, feelings arise, and they are forced to confront the feelings that their parents have told them could never be.
As Brie fights her feelings, she continuously fights with Teddy. Brie feels as though she needs to listen to Teddy’s Mom and not date, because her Mom’s job is at stak,e and also his Mom is moving heaven and earth to make sure she’s got everything she needs.
Hannah Lowery and Luke Dodge have such great chemistry on the screen that you can’t help but want to watch their journey and hope they end up together. You hope that they beat the odds.
Watch it on Reelshort.
A Deal with My Billionaire Donor
Starring: Cayman Cardiff & Erin Orcutt
Synopsis: Desperate for a baby, Claire strikes a “sperm contract” with billionaire Ethan, who must marry to keep his fortune. But when he becomes her boss, passion upends their deal. Can fake love turn real?
Why It’s A Fave: If you haven’t noticed, Erin Orcutt is an actress who has some really great performances in verticals. She’s talented and plays some characters that feel real. Of course, a real person is probably not going to have a man overhear that you need sperm to get pregnant and offer his up if you marry him. And if they do, they are probably not going to be a billionaire.
I’ve noticed that verticals seem to love the name Ethan. You’ve guessed it, Cayman Cardiff plays Ethan, her hubby/sperm donor/boss. She goes to work for him and doesn’t want anyone to know they are married.
Of course, though, everyone hates her. She is outed as being married to her boss. Drama, drama, drama ensues. What can I say? I love the drama.
The Godfather’s Secret Lover
Starring: Trinity Johnston & Nick Puya
Synopsis: Cate’s romance with mob heir Nick turns upside down when she finds James in her bed instead. At a party, she learns the devastating truth: she slept with Nick’s father, the ruthless crime boss.
Why It’s A Fave: I love a good mafia vertical, but more than that, I love Nick Puya. He’s just so entertaining and has made me believe that a forehead kiss is the most intimate of gestures someone in a relationship can give. This is an age gap series, and though I don’t really see the on-screen chemistry between Trinity Johnston and Nick Puya, I overlooked it because Puya’s performance as a mob boss is just so entertaining.
SWIMMING MY WAY BACK TO YOU
Starring: Tess Dinerstein, Shayne Davis, & Miah Green
Synopsis: After years as Marcus’s secret lover, Hazel discovers he still loves his ex Zoe. As she decides to end things, she learns she’s pregnant.
Why It’s A Fave: I will tell you that turning on this one, I had some hesitations. Why? Shayne Davis. I’ve seen Vanderpump Rules, and it really has made me not like him. I’m like, what the he**, he’s a certified LA douche.
But this vertical – well, it was one that I loved. I watched because of all the comments that I had seen online about people loving it. Marcus is a swimming star who takes Hazel for granted. He’s unable to communicate his feelings, and when he keeps putting his ex before Hazel, she decides to leave him.
His response? Okay. He was indifferent, and that made me cuss at my screen. Hazel is madly in love with him and wants him to notice her. But he doesn’t see her. He only starts to see her when it seems that she’s moved on.
His ex, Zoe, is back at the swimming club, and rumors surround their relationship. Hazel is the team doctor and has to see it every single day. However, when she tells Marcus that she’s pregnant, that is when I really grew to hate him. He says that he will marry her as long as it is a secret. She agrees, and that made me scream again. Hazel, never settle.
She keeps going back to Marcus, but when his ex plows her over with a car, and she sees him in the hospital with Zoe, and ignoring her… she’s done. After all, Zoe tried to kill her.
It takes way too long for Marcus to come searching for her, and when he does, she tells him she wants a divorce. She also hands proof that Zoe tried to kill her. And then she lies and says that she lost the baby.
What I don’t like in any vertical is when people say they lost a baby, even when they didn’t. Marcus is devastated, and she leaves. She’s moving to the Netherlands and doesn’t want anything to do with him. For years, they have not been in each other’s orbit, but his cousin Ethan (again, verticals love the name) knows where she is.
Eventually, Marcus and Hazel see each other again, and he comes face-to-face with his daughter. The ending is left open to interpretation, which I don’t mind. I just believe that they got back together.
The list to get you started – well, it’s some of my favorites. Do you watch verticals? Which ones are your favorites? Tell us all the things.
