If you’ve often wondered what it would be like to be trapped inside a girl’s private boarding school in the middle of a flooded Australia, look no further because Class of ‘07 is just the show for you. Created by Kacie Anning, Class of ‘07 is a comedic spin on a post-apocalyptic world of women on the verge of an emotional breakdown. Starring Emily Browning as Zoe, Megan Smart as Amelia, and Caitlin Stasey as Saskia, the series features more than a dozen women in the middle of their ten-year high school graduation who must work together to survive the sudden flooding of the entire world. Talk about being stuck in the worst possible timeframe of your life.
Class of ‘O7 doesn’t reinvent the post-apocalyptic genre. It doesn’t even break the wheel of comedy. This series is the equivalent of taking Yellowjackets and The Sex Life of College Girls and giving them all Australian accents. That said, it’s a surprisingly charming feminine iteration of Lord of the Flies with a solid comedic backbone. Any series smart enough to stick to its strengths, in this case, an all-female cast, is worth watching.
The series opens with a mockumentary-style recreation of a reality series, à la The Bachelor, where we witness one of the worst things imaginable in our screen-obsessed world: Someone being humiliated on live television. Browning’s Zoe is left bereft in the aftermath of being dumped on air, and retreats to a campervan in the middle of nowhere to lick her wounds in private. It isn’t until the earth begins to shake and water erupts from the ground that she risks turning her phone back on to find out what’s happening. Fast forward to the ten-year high school reunion. Chaos erupts there too—not in the form of natural disasters but in the re-opening of gaping old wounds left largely un-mended by time. Add the world ending, and you’ve got yourself a good old time.
As a series, Class of ‘07 improves with each episode largely due to its deep dive into feminine rage and pain. Coloured with humour, the series contextualizes femininity in vast layers. From simple questions of “what is one to do on their period during the apocalypse?” to the more complex queries of fractured friendships, Anning’s creation wonders at how can women heal when men are not around. Beneath the domineering demeanor of erstwhile leader Saskia (Stasey) lies a young girl deeply traumatized by an inappropriate relationship with a male professor and the silence that followed. Their post-apocalyptic world contains more than just the fallout of societal structures. It’s the reorganization of an all-female group learning how to coexist in a post-patriarchal world.
Despite a shaky start, it manages to course-correct along the way. Class of ’07 may not add anything new to the post-apocalypse genre, but it puts women front and centre in the narrative. It indulges them in their various complexities too, like when a room full of women peddle on bicycles to generate enough energy to straighten their hair. Who cares if there’s no one (men) left to impress? It makes the point that women present themselves in the world for themselves and no one else. It’s an earnest attempt at imagining a world where women can overcome their traumas however they see fit. While psychological warfare (courtesy of Saskia) isn’t exactly the healthiest way to process emotional hardships, it is entertaining. Class of ‘07 is a kaleidoscopic, comedic gem worth sticking around for.
Class of ’07 is now streaming on Prime Video.
