Love Me Love Me, Netflix’s highly anticipated February 2026 romantic thriller, arrives as one of the most emotionally charged original series of the year. Adapted from a bestselling Wattpad novel that amassed millions of reads, the show follows June Callahan, a 17-year-old American girl who relocates to a prestigious boarding school in northern Italy following the sudden death of her older brother. Devastated and searching for a fresh start, June is thrust into the glittering yet treacherous world of La Scuola Internazionale di San Marco, an elite institution where wealth, privilege, and dark secrets coexist behind ivy-covered walls.

The series opens with June’s arrival in the misty hills of Piedmont. She is immediately captivated by the school’s beauty—the marble corridors, the ancient olive groves, the view of distant Alps—but the atmosphere quickly turns claustrophobic. The student body is a tightly knit circle of old-money heirs, international diplomats’ children, and a few scholarship students like June herself. Among them stands James Moretti, the school’s undisputed king. Tall, brooding, and dangerously charismatic, James rules through intimidation and whispered reputation. He is rumored to participate in underground MMA fights held in abandoned warehouses on the outskirts of Turin, where bets run into the tens of thousands and injuries are simply part of the game. His cold exterior hides a volatile temper and a past marked by family tragedy that few dare mention.

Despite James’s warning glare and the clear message to stay away, June finds herself inexplicably drawn to him. Their first real interaction occurs during a late-night confrontation in the school’s abandoned chapel, where James corners her after she witnesses him returning from a fight, knuckles bloodied and shirt torn. The tension is electric—anger, curiosity, and something unspoken pass between them in seconds. Yet before anything can escalate, Will Rossi intervenes. Will is James’s best friend since childhood, the golden boy of San Marco: captain of the debate team, straight-A student, polite, kind, and universally admired. He diffuses the situation with calm authority and walks June back to her dorm, offering quiet comfort and the first genuine smile she has seen since her brother’s funeral.

June begins dating Will almost immediately. He is safe, attentive, and everything James is not. Their relationship starts sweetly—picnics by the lake, late-night study sessions in the library, stolen kisses in hidden alcoves. Will seems to understand her grief without pushing, and for the first time in months June feels seen. Yet the more time she spends with him, the more cracks appear. Will’s perfection feels rehearsed; his smiles never quite reach his eyes. Small inconsistencies surface: unexplained absences, tense phone calls he takes in private, a sudden possessiveness when James is mentioned. June brushes it off at first, telling herself she is overthinking.

The turning point arrives when June stumbles upon the truth behind James’s fights. She follows him one night after curfew and witnesses a brutal match in a dimly lit industrial space. James dominates the ring with terrifying precision, but after the fight he collapses against a wall, breathing hard, staring at his bloodied hands with something close to self-loathing. When he notices June watching, he doesn’t threaten her. Instead, he speaks softly for the first time: “You shouldn’t be here. You don’t belong in this world.” The vulnerability in his voice contradicts everything she thought she knew about him.

From that moment the love triangle ignites. James begins appearing wherever June is—on the running path at dawn, in the art studio after hours, on the rooftop where she escapes to think. Their conversations are sharp, honest, and laced with danger. He warns her about Will without ever saying his name outright. June pushes back, refusing to believe the boy who has treated her with nothing but kindness could be hiding something sinister. Yet doubt creeps in. She starts noticing how Will always knows where she is, how he reacts with barely concealed anger when James is near, how certain students avoid eye contact when she asks about the school’s history.

The series builds tension through layered revelations. Will is not the golden boy he appears to be; he is deeply entangled in the same underground fight scene as James, but for very different reasons. His involvement stems from a desperate need to pay off family debts accrued by his father’s failed business ventures. James, meanwhile, fights not for money but for control—control over the rage he inherited from a violent father who abandoned the family years ago. The two boys, once inseparable brothers in all but blood, are now locked in a silent war over pride, loyalty, and the girl who has unwittingly become the prize.

June’s own arc is equally compelling. Mourning her brother has left her emotionally numb, and both James and Will represent different paths to feeling alive again. James offers intensity and honesty, a mirror to her own buried anger. Will offers safety and the illusion of normalcy. As secrets unravel—blackmail, hidden cameras, a mysterious death years earlier tied to the school—June realizes that no one at San Marco is innocent. Even the teachers turn a blind eye to the fights, the drugs, the power plays among the students. The institution itself is rotten, built on old money and older lies.

The final episodes escalate into a dangerous game of trust and betrayal. June must choose not just between two boys, but between two versions of herself: the girl who wants to run from pain and the one who is ready to face it. The trailer’s closing line, delivered by June in voiceover as she stands between James and Will on the school’s rooftop at dawn, encapsulates the central question: “If everyone is lying… how do you know who to believe?”

With stunning cinematography capturing Italy’s timeless beauty juxtaposed against the darkness beneath, Love Me Love Me promises to be Netflix’s next addictive teen drama. The cast shines: rising star Emilia Rossi as June, Luca Moretti as the brooding James, and Matteo Bianchi as the deceptively perfect Will. The soundtrack, featuring moody indie tracks and Italian classical pieces, amplifies the emotional stakes.

As February approaches, anticipation is at fever pitch. Fans of the Wattpad original have flooded forums with theories about who June will ultimately choose, whether redemption is possible for James or Will, and how far the school’s secrets truly go. One thing is certain: in the world of Love Me Love Me, love is never simple, trust is never safe, and one look can change everything—forever.