HBO Max’s New Show Heated Rivalry Has Everyone Talking — Is It Worth Watching?

When the trailer for the new HBO Max show Heated Rivalry dropped earlier this month, it sent fans on social media into a tizzy.

Anticipation for the homoerotic, romantic sports drama has only continued to build since that trailer premiere, and now Heated Rivalry’s first two episodes are streaming for everyone to binge.

Thankfully, it looks like the trailer has lived up to the hype — both fans and critics are obsessed with the show, based on the popular novel of the same name by Rachel Reid.

Watch With Us breaks down why Heated Rivalry is worth watching and could be the next big streaming craze.

What Is ‘Heated Rivalry’ About?

Heated Rivalry is a Canadian show about two hockey players from opposing teams who get caught up in a secret romance. Tracker‘s Hudson Williams stars as Shane Hollander of the fictional Montreal Metros, and Joker: Folie à Deux‘s Connor Storrie plays the Russian-born Ilya Rozanov of the Boston Raiders. Amidst the incredibly heterosexual world of hockey in the late 2000s, Shane and Ilya form a strong bond born of their initially antagonistic relationship as rivals.

As the two young men dive headfirst into their romantic and sexual connection, they are forced to conceal their affair from their highly publicized professional lives in which minor missteps can lead to the end of careers. Like the best LGBTQ+ shows, Heated Rivalry excels in its narrative about self-discovery, as Shane and Ilya learn how to be themselves in a world that isn’t necessarily ready to accept them. And by focusing on the characters’ sexual and emotional desires, the show offers a layer of depth that transcends your standard, sexually airless erotic fare.

‘Heated Rivalry’ Is Surprisingly Intimate — and Sexy

No need to worry about a lack of sex scenes in Heated Rivalry — because there aren’t just sex scenes aplenty in the show, they are also long, wonderfully drawn out and pretty explicit, with some critics feeling (in a complimentary sort of way) that they bordered on softcore porn. Ultimately, the show does a fantastic job at depicting the sexual intercourse between Shane Ilya, because the scenes aren’t just sexy, they are also executed very intentionally and artfully.

What makes the sex scenes in Heated Rivalry so great is that the camera doesn’t fetishize its characters. Instead, Storrie and Williams are allowed to flex their natural chemistry, which creates a palpable eroticism on its own, bereft of any exploitative nudging by the filmmakers. Heated Rivalry also focuses not just on the act of sex, but why the two characters are attracted to each other in the first place. In this way, intercourse scenes are imbued with both the physical and the emotional.

‘Heated Rivalry’ Isn’t Just About Sex

Series creator Jacob Tierney wasn’t just interested in adapting Heated Rivalry for the sex — he was also genuinely invested in depicting the love between Shane and Ilya. Speaking with CBC, Tierney explained, “I don’t want to sound too silly or sentimental, but what excited me so much … was the joy of it. It’s that it’s a love story, and that they get to be in love.” For many gay people seeking on-screen representation, they’re seeking more happiness than the typical tragedies often given to gay characters.

Tierney was interested in showing how Shane and Ilya change across the eight-year time span in which they’re having sex, and how their relationship evolves each time through the very act of sex itself. Ultimately, and not to give too much of a spoiler, but Heated Rivalry does have a happy ending. Instead of being pure smut, Heated Rivalry is an empowering piece of media that unabashedly depicts two gay characters happily in love.

The Show’s Lead Actors Are Breakout Stars

You’ve likely never heard the names Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie before checking out Heated Rivalry. However, we wouldn’t be surprised if these two young stars find themselves further and further in the mainstream as Heated Rivalry continues to stream on HBO Max over the next few weeks. The pair does a fantastic job of portraying their characters on an individual level as well as showcasing the romance between them.

Williams convincingly embodies Shane’s gifted good-boy act that hides some pretty intense self-pity, while Storrie excels at filling out Ilya’s cocky, brooding persona. And Ilya’s got some darkness to him for a reason — he’s forced to deal with an overbearing, abusive father and comes from a country where same-sex relationships are highly stigmatized. But both men have emotional walls that require breaking down. Together, it cannot be overemphasized just how astutely the two young actors convey the physical and spiritual connection between their characters, while also expressing the fear and anxiety of their situation.

Stream the first two episodes of Heated Rivalry now on HBO Max.