Less than a week after the British show Adolescence was launched on Netflix, it has inspired an avalanche of social media posts and personal messages demanding, “Drop everything and watch it.”
Some of the acclaim has to do with the way the limited series has been filmed. Director Philip Barantini and cinematographer Matthew Lewis have shot each of the four episodes in a single take, giving the narrative a propulsive, immersive feel.
The storytelling is in lockstep with the filmmaking. Adolescence is written by the actor Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne. Graham had previously starred in Barantini’s one-take film Boiling Point (2021), and plays a key role in Adolescence too. The screenplay is a devastating piece of writing – a document of the here and now as well as a commentary on alienation ricocheting through the generations.
Thirteen-year-old Jamie (Owen Cooper) is arrested for the murder of his classmate Katie. Although the cherubic-looking boy protests his innocence, the police build a strong case against him. Jamie’s father Eddie (Graham), mother Manda (Christine Tremarco) and sister Lisa (Amelie Pease) go from being a regular working-class family to being outcasts.
Detectives Bascombe (Ashley Walters) and Misha (Faye Marsay) visit Jamie’s school, where they are given lessons in the significance of the colours used in emojis, the impact of social media sites on self-esteem and the generalised cruelty of teenagers.
In the most shocking episode, Jamie meets his counsellor Briony (Erin Doherty). The encounter reveals the cult of wounded masculinity propagated by the likes of Andrew Tate and its effects on impressionable minds.
The one-take approach gives no room to hide, either from the truth about Jamie or the larger pressures faced by his peer group. The staging peels off the layers one by one, revealing a core that is fetid but familiar.
Adolescence packs into nearly hour-long episodes themes that are particular to its United Kingdom setting as well as universal. We are in the world of social decline aided by an unfeeling state that has been memorably explored by British master Ken Loach and carried forward by such filmmakers as Andrea Arnold and Shane Meadows.
Every minute of Adolescence is devoted to a cerebral, emotional exploration of violence, both real and perceived. Rug-pulling is a recurring motif but it is never used as a gimmick.
The consummate filmmaking gives the lead actors ample scope to display their talent. Stephen Graham, often cast as a hoodlum or comic relief, unleashes the full range of his powers.
Erin Doherty and Owen Cooper are outstanding in the episode in which Briony sees Jamie for who he is as well as who he is pretending to be. It’s hard to believe that Cooper, acing the role of Jamie, has never acted before.
Even minor characters are memorable, such as the clueless teacher who shepherds the police detectives through the school, or the bug-eyed store employee who accosts Eddie. However, there is one glaring hole in the otherwise brilliant Adolescence, summed up by Misha’s observation that in crimes against girls and women, the perpetrators get all the attention.
Who was the murdered girl Katie? Described through other characters, seen only in photos and videos, Katie remains a blank canvas onto whom the show’s ideas are projected.