Less than five minutes in, it’s easy to see where this is going: their glances are too flirty, his touches too lingering. Soon enough they’re having sex, before we’re introduced to the adult Justine – a sports physio at a Millfield-esque prestigious school for gifted athletes. She’s a secret party girl plagued by memories of Glenn and her bygone talent. Because she’s a traumatised young woman, lots of her scenes are shot in that annoying Euphoria-lite style where she’s shown sweaty and dancing against flashing neon lights and pounding bass music. While massaging a patient, she goads him into discussing women’s rape fantasies in the bedroom. It’s all very Girl, Interrupted.
A series of flashbacks show Justine’s near-win at the French Open get thwarted by a wrist injury, leaving her in a deep depression. Her parents despair, Glenn unsuccessfully tries to persuade her to get back to practice. When he fails, he drops her. It’s in these scenes that Hyland’s performance is most absorbing, her tear-stained face screwed up in heartbreak that gives away just how vile the abuse of power was: she’s too young, and someone in his position should have known better.
Then when Justine finally cracks and decides to report Glenn’s abuse to the police, she’s met with a brick wall. Nobody believes her. He’s ruthless in his attempts to get her to shut up. She acts erratically and we can never quite tell if she isn’t still infatuated with him. Released just a week after the end of Wimbledon, amid reports of rampant sexual abuse in tennis (particularly among young female players and their older coaches), Fifteen-Love could have been a hard-hitting study of why elite sports so often breed predators. Instead, its over-stylised and lacking depth, the main characters bent into dramatic delivery that fails to convince.
Fifteen-Love season one is available on Amazon Prime Video from July 21
