German Series in North America
Maxton Hall – The World Between Us

Germany is not exactly known for silly romantic dramedies but this Amazon Prime original series has global audiences swooning over two star-crossed lovers who attend an elite British school. A closer look reveals why Maxton Hall is such an addictive and indulgent show to watch.

By Gesa Mayr

The premise is as simple as it is effective: Ruby Bell, 17, an equally attractive and ambitious book nerd, needs one more letter of recommendation to apply to her dream college: Oxford University. It’s her ticket out of Gormsy, the little British town just outside of London where she lives with an extremely quirky sister and her parents who own a little bakery and have a hard time making ends meet. Her plan until graduation: keep a low profile at school, the renowned Maxton Hall, which she can only afford to attend on a scholarship. This shouldn’t be too hard, without a family fortune Ruby is already invisible to most of her classmates. However, when she walks in on her favorite teacher kissing a fellow student, she becomes a target for one of the richest and most powerful families of the country: the Beauforts, owners of a luxury fashion dynasty.

The eldest son James, a blonde Lacrosse player with a trust fund instead of a personality and the most refined abs seen on screen since Ryan Gosling’s sixpack in Crazy, Stupid, Love, soon tries to buy her silence.

When he seriously endangers her chances at Oxford, Ruby goes head to head with him and the series launches into the most satisfying, juiciest tropes that there ever were in romantic storytelling: the forced proximity of two people who deeply, profoundly hate each other and now have to spend extensive time in an enclosed space.

It’s the gateway to twelve episodes full of big love, big drama and even bigger feelings. Maxton Hall sits somewhere between fairy tale and soap opera, Cinderella meets Gossip Girl with a sprinkle of Bridgerton – and it has become an international hit for Amazon Prime.

Surprisingly so, why do people all over the world yearn for romance made in Germany?

Germany is not exactly known for silly, soapy romantic dramedies. But Maxton Hall is part of a cultural trend that sees mostly female audiences between roughly 13 and 39 enchanted by romance literature. Stories that center on underestimated young women who rise above themselves and find true love through their integrity and skill – often while saving their families and communities in the process.

The sector has been growing exponentially, driven in large part by TikTok, where users rate their favorite books and swoon over fictional couples. Amazon Prime has heavily committed to this genre, adopting local and global fan favorites. The streamer is just coming off the success of The Summer I Turned Pretty, another young adult love story about a girl who must choose between two brothers. The three season book adaptation had people flock to watch parties all over the globe – a strong currency in the streaming age. Amazon is also adapting the global phenomenon Fourth Wing, one of the biggest romantasy hits of recent years. Maxton Hall is the German offering in this global ecosystem and falls right into the success formula. The series is based on the wildly popular book series Save Me by 33-year-old German author Mona Kasten. The writers translated it into a glossy TV show while sticking to Kasten’s simple but powerful archetypes and topics. Ruby, the arduous Goody Two-Shoes from a poor family with more integrity than is good for her. James, the popular brute prince, tortured by his father and rebelling against the chains of his golden cage.

In a world that has turned into one enormous grey zone, the show negotiates topics like coming-of-age, class, social inequality and integrity within the comfortable confines of a neatly sealed-off castle world. It’s rich versus poor, good versus evil, the lion that falls in love with the lamb. And it pairs that with an unspoiled belief in true love, usually reserved for those too young to know better.

Silly, yes, but also highly entertaining if you suspend disbelief and accept the rules of this genre. As the two protagonists grow from enemies to lovers, the show pulls every lever it has. Ruby and James having to try on Victorian ball costumes for a fundraiser? Ridiculous. The inevitable dress reveal scene, however, is genre gold standard. James rescuing Ruby out of the pool at a party? Over the top. Her opening up about a traumatizing childhood memory in the car later – a true moment of character development.

The school, the uniforms, the parties, the ridiculous rules

Maxton Hall is fantasy without dragons. It’s a limited location that provides escapism, and it’s exactly why Maxton Hall works, even in an international context. It’s relatable enough to pull audiences in, bland enough to serve as a canvas to universal projection.

Most importantly: Maxton Hall is fully aware of what it is. It takes its audience as well as its young protagonists seriously. It doesn’t try to reinvent romance but revels in the tropes beloved in novels and movies. The writing and the performances often show an earnestness that feels true to the teenage life – when every emotion is heightened and everything seems at stake all the time. Some lines sound like what middle-aged men think young girls sound like. When arguing with her father, Ruby tells him: “I just want to close the door in your face like a normal teenager.” Which is a sentence no 17-year-old has said to a parent – ever. But you forgive and forget the dialogue when the two stars are on screen together. Their chemistry makes the story work, with Harriet Herbig-Matten (Ruby) carrying Damian Hardung (James) through the more challenging scenes. Both have become fan favorites, amassing huge followings on social media and regularly drifting into the darker realms of celebrity gossip. It’s a testament to their on-screen chemistry that fans are speculating about an off-screen romance. The enemies-to-lovers narrative has worked for Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy and even for Princess Leia and Han Solo. And while Maxton Hall is by far neither Pride & Prejudice nor Star Wars, it does believe in love – which in today’s world is hopeful, if not borderline rebellious.

Maxton Hall
2 seasons a 6 episodes (2024-2025), the third and final season will premiere in late 2026.
Watch on: Amazon Prime
Cast: Damian Hardung, Harriet Herbig-Matten, Ben Felipe, Fedja van Huêt, Runa Greiner, Justus Riesner, Andrea Guo
Directed by Martin Schreier
Produced by Markus Brunnemann, Ceylan Yildirim, Valentin Debler (UFA Fiction)