Netflix’s queer coming of age military dramedy Boots is a quietly affecting watch
A producer on Boots has revealed the plot of season two – had it not been cancelled. (Netflix)
The lingering question while watching Boots, Netflix’s new, queer military dramedy, is: why the hell would anyone put themselves through this?
‘This’ being signing up for the US Marine Corps’ bootcamp by the way, which looks to be as fun as self-performed open heart surgery, not ‘this’ as in watching Boots, which is considerably better than open heart surgery. In fact, it’s a captivating, occasionally thrilling watch, with quite a lot of heart, a fair bit of cliché, and some solid performances.
For young closeted gay man Cameron Cope (13 Reasons Why star Miles Heizer), the reasons for joining the Marine Corps bootcamp are clear. Keen for a new path in life away from his distant-at-best, neglectful-at-worst mother Barbara (Vera Farmiga) and the head-flushing bullies at school, Cameron’s options are limited. Except his best friend Ray (newcomer Liam Oh) is off to the Marines anyway – it’s his dream, impressed on him by his military man father – and so Cameron is easily convinced to join him on a searingly misjudged adventure.
Cameron soon discovers that a Marine bootcamp in South Carolina isn’t really the place for a Golden Girls and Wilson Phillips obsessive, particularly in the pre ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ 1990, when being gay in any faction of the armed forces was illegal. As one of his fellow recruits later declares about him: “Definitely not Marine material, kinda f*ggy.” Understandably, the word gets bandied about quite a bit here.
So begins 13 weeks in this pure, unfiltered hell: their heads are all shaved, the tasks are mentally and physically brutal (more obstacle courses than Total Wipeout), and the infuriatingly machismo screaming of the sergeants is unbearable, for both Cameron and us at home (seriously, how the hell any of these men still have in-tact vocal chords is a mystery). In one disgusting scene, a sargeant forces Cameron to eat from a bin, causing him to throw up. He later finds slightly more joy in another bodily function, winning the “brown bomber challenge” for his “10/10” defecation, earning an “oorah for his poorah” from his fellow corps.
Yet Boots is based on memoir The Pink Marine by Greg Cope White, a book about “a young gay man’s search for connection and recognition in the US Marines,” as one reviewer succinctly put it. So this is more than just foul-tempered sergeants and teen boys weeping and farting in dirty bootcamp showers (though there’s some of that, too).
Guided by his more free-speaking inner monologue, Cameron does begin to discover more about himself, his sexuality, and his perseverance, somehow managing to find a band of unlikely brothers in his fellow corps who, despite their braggadocio, have more vulnerabilities than they let on. Heartbreaking home dynamics, fatphobia, grim racism – Ray, who is Asian, is nicknamed “Bento” by one sergeant – these are troubled boys, all trying to find their way in the world. Even Sgt. Sullivan (Emmerdale star Max Parker), who could rank as one of 2025’s most detestable characters for the first half of the season, is plagued by bigger troubles.
Sure, Boots can get a little mawkish; it’s a coming of age story, and it makes that very clear. But it’s worth hanging about for the sweet and sometimes beautiful relationships that form between these men, and the genuinely affecting moments that happen between them. Plus, there’s a killer soundtrack, with George Michael, Bananarama and of course, Wilson Phillips. If you can hear it through all of that incessant shouting.
All episodes of Boots are now streaming on Netflix.
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