I was a bit skeptical when I came across the title Young Millionaires on Netflix—the reason being that there is an overload of teen drama series available on OTT platforms, and the same goes for the heist genre as well. The title gave me the impression that the series would be about a bunch of spoiled brats who end up broke after spending their lottery winnings on a luxury lifestyle. Whether the series would offer something new was my point of concern, but Young Millionaires didn’t turn out to be a complete disappointment.
Young Millionaires is primarily a story about friendship. Four friends—David, Jess, Leo, and Samia—were nothing like each other, yet they shared an unbreakable bond. David was outspoken and the life of the party, Jess loved all things pretty and aspired to own a Chanel bag someday, Leo was the introvert who cared deeply about the environment, and Samia was an upcoming soccer star who was driven by her passion. They had a similar economic background, and they could relate to the struggle of staying afloat with very limited resources. But one day their lives changed drastically when they won the lottery.
Something that they did just out of fun gave them a chance to reimagine their lives. They didn’t know what to do with the seventeen million euros. Their dreams and aspirations suddenly started to look minuscule in front of the figure that they had earned. After celebrating the news, the four friends sat down to think of ways to spend the money. But they were just seventeen, and a calculative move was not what they had in mind. Their first instinct was to party like there was no tomorrow. They perhaps had always seen their privileged peers arriving at chic nightclubs in their fancy cars, and for the first time in their lives, they could afford to do the same. Even though the money hadn’t yet been transferred to their accounts, they got busy spending it. They rented a car, got dressed in their fanciest of clothes, and paid the bouncer at a nightclub to get immediate entry. The four friends walked in with their heads held high; they no longer needed to count their drinks or worry about the bill before ordering—they were pretty much on top of the world. But the next morning, the castle in the air came crashing down. Leo, David, Samia, and Jess discovered that minors were not allowed to cash lottery winnings. They needed to find an adult who would be willing to help them. Now, getting an adult involved would mean disclosing their little secret and eventually offering them a share of their win. Whom did the youngsters choose to claim their win? You have to watch the show to find out.
Young Millionaires might give you the impression that the series will showcase the struggle of the teenagers after they either spent or lost the seventeen million euros to a scam, but surprisingly, the eight episodes mostly deal with the challenges they face in getting their hands on the cash. Midway through the series, a blackmailer subplot is also introduced to keep the interest going. Now, Young Millionaires is neither a cerebral show nor an intense thriller; therefore, guessing the identity of the blackmailer is not really a struggle here. The subplot adds entertainment value, but it’s not engaging, and the revelation is far from shocking. At best, it’s a binge-worthy comedy drama with each episode spanning a little over 30 minutes.
Now if I have to compare Young Millionaires to Elite, probably one of the most popular teen thriller/drama shows on Netflix, it’s far less intense—in a good way, at least for me, and that’s because the focus is on the comedy and the fun banter between friends. There are plenty of conversations that don’t really contribute to the plot, but you get the idea that the four teens have been best friends for quite a while. Though, of course, like every other teen drama, there are moments when they manage to pull off impossible stunts that don’t really make sense.
Young Millionaires’ simplicity is both a boon and a curse. The show stays focused on its primary plot—the teens wanting to get access to their prize money. The subplots are somewhat half-baked and lack the intensity to contribute significantly to the show. The personal lives of each character are not well explored. A lot of details are mentioned in passing—was it an intentional choice made to keep the series less emotionally intense and more fun? Or to save some bits for an upcoming season? That, I guess, is up to the audience to decide. There were moments on the show when the characters learn pivotal details about their lives, but we don’t really get to soak in the emotion. It’s just a fleeting moment that lacks the emotional charge to move the audience. While sticking to the plot is important (I’ve watched too many films and shows where the subplots take up most of the runtime and the main plot is resolved with haste), Young Millionaires missed the opportunity to become memorable as a result of a lack of balance. I don’t remember a single moment from the show that had a lasting impression or made me feel somewhat invested in the struggle that the characters were going through.
As I’ve stated before, Young Millionaires is not a complete miss—there are a few funny moments, and the plot is not as obvious as the title. It’s one of those shows on Netflix that you binge-watch for laughs without giving it any thought. The ending of the show thankfully didn’t turn out to be as obvious as it looked like. Though most of what unfolds on screen is just way too convenient; things happen that seem unlikely to ever happen, but by now that’s just something that we’ve come to accept from teen dramas on Netflix. There’s no moral of the story; there are no big lessons to be learned. Probably the only lesson is to not spend money that you don’t even have! While I agree that not every show needs to have something important to say—some are just purely meant for entertainment—maybe in this case a little hook could have gone a long way.
