Campus Drivers Series Review
Prime Video has been on a roll with its Young Adult entertainment and erotic thrillers of late, dropping titles such as Maxton Hall, Sterling Point, Off Campus, You+Me – Against the World, and 56 Days, among others. Campus Drivers adds to the streamer’s expanding catalogue of Young Adult Romance. This breezy, albeit flawed, series coasts along for a while before showing a deeply intense side to its characters and their relationships. Carmen Kassovitz and Baptiste Masseline play Lois and Lane. Lois is fresh from a relationship breakup and has major financial struggles. Meanwhile, Lane is a charismatic youngster whose magnetic good looks attracts every woman on campus to him, but he has a major commitment problem. They both attend the same university; only, Lois is surviving on a scholarship program in a health-related course, and Lane is rich enough to cohabit with her. When she lands on his doorstep with a broken heart and no place else to go, he decides to share his residence with her. What starts as a case of live-in relationship gradually evolves into a deep romance. However, with Lois’s ex getting in their way, personal problems mounting, and the unique challenges of cohabitation at play, the couple finds it difficult to maintain their warm relationship.
Director: Tom Goris et Vianney Lebasque
Cast: Carmen Kassovitz, Baptiste Masseline, Enzo Lorente, Esteban Vial, Madior Fall
Streamer: Prime Video
Language: French (also available with English dubs)
Campus Drivers unabashedly thrives on the sheer charm of its two leads, which is not necessarily a bad thing. By naming the principal characters Lois and Lane, after the iconic protagonists from the Superman franchise, the series offers no false promises and makes it clear that the characters are meant for each other. It primes the audience for the ultimate happily-ever-after situation. However, the narrative gradually delves into a darker space towards the end, setting the stage for a potential second season.
Campus Drivers does not really have a conventional ending, which can be a tad frustrating for some viewers. The series also takes convenient detours to some of the side characters, who have little to no purpose in the broader story. While one of the parallel tracks only goes to highlight Lane’s difficulty with choosing a path for himself, the detours just feel like the main objective of having the parallel tracks is to include some more sex sequences in the narrative. Thankfully, however, the focus remains mostly on Lois and Lane.
The biggest pluses of the series include the use of exotic locations and the insights it offers into cohabitation. Where does one draw a boundary when sharing their residence with someone else, whom they are romantically and sexually involved with? How long does this form of a relationship become sustainable, or will it ever last? It is interesting how Campus Drivers navigates these nuances with mundane yet insightful sequences, such as a moment where Lois tells Lane to close the restroom when he uses it and he clarifies, saying, ‘This is my house.’ He does not mean that she is a refuge there and is not necessarily setting boundaries. In fact, it is clever how the series does not highlight the fact that the longer they stay together under one roof, Lane’s respect for Lois grows and his tendency to have sex with every other woman from the campus subsides, underscoring his personal evolution. These portions subtly show that a part of Lane is gravitating towards Lois.
Similarly, we see how Lois forges a special bond with two older women seeking companionship in France. The moments between Lois and her older companions are a joy to behold, showing how help can sometimes come from the least expected of places in a big French city.
The performances of the two leads pepper over the cracks in the narrative and make us want to root for their eventual union. Carmen Kassovitz brings grace and gravitas to the role of Lois, often letting her expressive eyes convey complex emotions. Take, for instance, the half-smile Lois gives to her ex as she inspects his thigh to diagnose a muscular issue, thus unintentionally causing an erection in him in the process. It is the sort of deft touch that accomplished actors bring to their roles. Likewise, Baptiste Masseline channels Lane’s charisma, charm, and vulnerabilities, while summing up the right emotions for the series’ dramatic portions. Together, they are absolutely charming, to say the least.
However, Campus Drivers struggles with a plot point involving Lane and his late brother. Right from the start, the series suggests that Lane’s relationship troubles have to do with the burden he feels for the passing of his brother. In a round-about sort of way, it teases the siblings’ backstory, only to confirm the same emotional weight of Lane in the penultimate episode that we already manage to suss out early on in the series. The bizarre conclusion also serves as little except for a sequel-bait, but at least, Campus Drivers does not meander too much just for the sake of reaching the conventional eight-episode mark, as in the case of some recent Prime Video titles.