“Euphoria” remains one of the most hyped hits on television, even when it takes a few years to get a new season. There’s so much to creator Sam Levinson’s series that keeps fans invested, from the titillating storylines to the phenomenal performances from its young cast—particularly Zendaya as Rue, a high school student struggling with drug addiction. But it’s also the show’s trademark visual style that makes it linger in your mind.
Here, we examine the cinematography and setting of “Euphoria” that gives the series such a memorable aesthetic. Consider it an extra reason to rewatch before the next season airs… eventually.
On its surface, “Euphoria” might sound like it calls for plain scenery—it’s ultimately just high schoolers navigating life and dealing with real-world problems, from drug use to body image issues. But while the lighting and camera work give the show its unique visual style, there’s actually something extra going on because of the mundane scenery. It’s that contrast that makes a high school party feel like a matter of life and death.
Take the party scene from Season 2, Episode 1—“Trying to Get to Heaven Before They Close the Door.” Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) doesn’t want Maddy (Alexa Demie) to know she’s hooking up with Maddy’s ex Nate (Jacob Elordi). As a result, she ends up getting stuck hiding in a bathtub. It’s a completely innocuous suburban location that suddenly feels as claustrophobic as a coffin.
High school bathrooms, a carnival, a park, the diner—these aren’t fantastical locations. And yet they add an air of realism to “Euphoria.” This is vital to the show’s success. Among the melodrama and maximalist imagery, that audience never loses the feeling that these are real things that teenagers have to deal with.
That doesn’t mean the show can’t opt for more stylistic choices every now and then, though.
On Season 2, Episode 4—“You Who Cannot See, Think of Those Who Can”—we get the now-iconic shot of Cassie surrounded by flowers. The mundane has been swapped with a more thematic representation of Cassie’s psyche. “That image was very much influenced by Mexican murals,” said “Euphoria” cinematographer Marcell Rév. “We thought that it should be something that you could capture in one frame. And those murals are like that; you can tell a whole story with just one image.”
The frame truly is a painting—until, again, it isn’t. The camera pulls out to reveal Cassie only exists as a reflection. It’s a beautiful, but ultimately hollow image; there’s no Cassie outside the mirror. The character’s arc has largely involved her looks and how she defines herself by them. To only exist as a gorgeous reflection surrounded by roses allows the audience to understand her mental state. Cassie doesn’t feel like a person, but a mere concept of beauty.
No analysis of “Euphoria” would be complete without examining its lighting, which works to create a sensation known as emotional realism. This means that it might not feel realistic or natural, but it gets across a feeling. Take the scene in which Jules (Hunter Schafer) meets Nate on Season 1, Episode 4—“Shook Ones Pt II.”
Jules planned to meet with a boy she connected with online, only to discover the boy is actually Nate, who tricked her and wants to blackmail her. It’s a haunting scene, and from the beginning, the audience feels as uneasy as Jules. After all, it isn’t necessarily safe for a young trans girl to meet a stranger at night.
Notice how the lighting makes the nighttime aesthetic feel heightened. Jules is on alert, a state that can make reality feel not quite real. Rév used tungsten units behind the trees to act as street lamps, but their brightness almost feels more like stage lights. This not only increases the surreal quality of the encounter, but calls out the artifice of the moment. The scene Jules was picturing in her head was an impossible illusion all along.
On “Euphoria,” the camera always seems to be moving, which lends itself to a more expressionist, ethereal aesthetic. And of course, you can’t talk about the show’s cinematography without discussing the carnival crane shot in “Shook Ones Pt II.”
Rév utilized a dolly and Technocrane to carry viewers through the carnival, checking in with each character without pause or cuts. The show often uses this technique in big set pieces for a few reasons. For one, it allows us to stay grounded in a location and understand where each piece of the ensemble is. As we hurry from one clashing personality to another, you get the sense of a powder keg ready to blow.
But it’s also, like the lighting, a way to evoke a feeling. The title “Euphoria” alludes to the highs and lows of the series’ subject matter—drugs, sex, and the outsized emotions of being young. The camera doesn’t give you a second to compose yourself; it feels breathless. It is literally and metaphorically a rush.
Now, let’s look at how the scenery, lighting, and camera movement come together for something truly spectacular.
The Season 1 finale of “Euphoria” ends with Rue relapsing. The scene opens with the camera tracking behind her; she’s merely a shadow, trying to get away. But the spotlight above her highlights the feeling that there’s no way to hide. In her bedroom, Rue is barely visible among the darkness, a clear indicator of her depressed mental state.
But then the scene transitions into a big, splashy musical number. This is, again, the mundane transforming into the surreal. Static camera turns into sweeping movements around Rue and a choir of bodies. The sudden switch is both jarring and exhilarating. The viewer intimately understands how scary relapse is, and yet how one can experience a temporary euphoric state from getting back into drugs.
Levinson spoke with the Hollywood Reporter about the intention behind the larger-than-life moment: “Seeing her relapse felt dark to me in a way that doesn’t fully encapsulate the cycle and the madness of addiction—how you’re thrown back into it and thrown out of it, and it’s dizzying and at times beautiful but also really fucking terrifying.”
Levinson’s quote sums up the cinematography choices of “Euphoria.” All of these elements come together to create something familiar yet strange. It’s beautiful and terrifying in equal measure, which is often how it feels to come of age in the modern world.