I watched this series 6 years after its premiere. Now I think: why so late?

In 2018, the series “Roman Girls” debuted on Netflix, telling the story of the lives of wealthy teenagers growing up in Parioli, the richest district of Rome. I managed to watch the series only 6 years after the premiere of the first season, although before that it had appeared many times in my streaming library. I must admit that from the very beginning I treated it as a typical guilty pleasure, perfect for a weekend afternoon. Consequently, I spent two days of my life watching one episode after another just to find out what would happen next. I didn’t expect that the story that I had avoided for so long would engage me enough to tell you why.

“Roman Girls”, a story that really happened

Let’s start with an outline of the plot, which was inspired by the famous “baby squillo” scandal from a few years ago. In 2013, the media wrote about sexual abuse of fifteen-year-old girls in the previously mentioned Parioli district. Soon after, it came to light that the clients of underage prostitutes included businessmen, famous politicians and even clergy. Several people were convicted in the case, including the mother of one of the teenagers. The plot of “Roman Girls” is similar, where the main characters, bored with everyday life, look for excitement by having fun at night in Roman clubs. The girls decide to engage in prostitution, treating meetings with men as a form of good fun and an additional source of income. It is for this reason that the series was criticized by organizations opposing the exploitation of minors.

However, the main characters’ approach to prostitution changes over time – both of them notice that the company they keep is quite dangerous, and the activity itself can cause them many problems, especially if the police become interested in the matter. Young girls entangled in a web of lies, blackmail and secrets find it increasingly difficult to get out of the illegal “business”. And it is this part of the series that, in my opinion, deserves great recognition. You could even say that it is an excellent warning for parents or people who will be trying to have children in the future.

With each subsequent episode, the deepening gap between teenagers and their parents, who turn their eyes away from the problems of the adolescent world, becomes more and more clear. Adults, absorbed in everyday life, do not try to break through the boundary of superficiality in relationships with their children, ultimately convincing them that they can only trust each other the most. This approach, of course, leads to disastrous consequences, but I am not going to write about them here so as not to reveal the rest of the plot. However, if you have some free time and you are not particularly interested in the football games during Euro 2024, I recommend adding “Roman Girls” to your Netflix library.

The players are playing, the fans are cheering, but not everyone is following the European Football Championships taking place in Germany so closely. For those who are looking for other entertainment, every day we recommend something that we have watched, read or listened to, and we think is worth recommending to others. And if you are now in a football frenzy, save these texts for the second half of July, after Euro 2024. Just in time for the holidays. You can find all of them here.