# Sharon Horgan's 'Youth' nails the chaos of middle age

> The Catastrophe creator's new HBO comedy explores dating, work, and family at 50 with her signature mix of humor and heart.
- Title: Sharon Horgan's 'Youth' nails the chaos of middle age · TIME
- Summary: The Catastrophe creator's new HBO comedy explores dating, work, and family at 50 with her signature mix of humor and heart. Every stage of life brings new…
- Keywords: sharon horgan, youth, hbo, catastrophe, bad sisters, middle age, comedy, aran murphy, cillian murphy, rupert friend, sharlene whyte, dating
- Source: TIME — https://time.com/article/2026/09/11/youth-review-sharon-horgan-hbo
- Author: Judy Berman
- Published: 2026-09-18T15:00:03.703+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: sharon horgan, youth, hbo, catastrophe, bad sisters, middle age, comedy, aran murphy, cillian murphy, rupert friend, sharlene whyte, dating
## Youth isn't ironic at all
Sharon Horgan's new HBO comedy follows a divorced 50-year-old caught between her college-aged son and declining parents. The title's humor conceals a complex truth about aging.
## Ten years left as sexual
Alex decides she has a decade left as a sexual person. With her son off to university, she's ending a long celibate streak to find love that's eluded her.

> I have 10 years left as a sexual person
## The dating pool is sparse
Men Alex's age date women decades younger. On a blind date with a 67-year-old who looks like her dad, she can't hide her disappointment and treats him badly.
## Her boss is her best friend
Alex wants respect as a veteran literary agent, but her boss Sam is also her best friend. Sam questions Alex's judgment and fails to keep her secrets.
## Selfish characters we still love
Horgan excels at writing self-sabotaging people we love despite their flaws. Her son Ruarí watches manosphere videos but shows real tenderness and confusion about manhood.
## Laugh out loud funny
An unexpected period becomes a running joke. Literary world characters include a rival agent who greets them as "sluts" and an author of a terrible novel called The Goblin Seed.

> Apropos of nothing, she's back
## Disorder springs eternal
Alex admits she doesn't know if there's anything left in her life that she likes. Every new stage brings unexpected mess, from canceled weddings to elderly parents losing toes.

> I just don't know if there's anything left in my life that I like anymore
## Key takeaway

Every stage of life brings new disorder, middle age is just another form of youth, equally exciting and terrifying.