Reactions: WHOA, Moving, Gripping
Where to watch: Netflix

Adolescence is the first British streaming show to top the British TV charts. And it soared to popularity in the US too. There’s a good reason for that.

The show starts a deep, difficult conversation about teen boys in crisis. The Andrew Tate “manosphere” directly and indirectly plays a prominent role in the motivation of Jamie, the main character, who has been accused of a heinous crime. There are parts of the four episodes that are incredibly difficult to watch. But we need to be watching this and having discussions about these topics. It certainly made me think about my own teen nephew and what he’s learning about “manhood” from the Internet.

The thing that’s truly remarkable about this series is that each episode is filmed in a single shot. Beyond that visually stunning nature of this cinematic technique, it also creates a visceral “real time” experience where we’re experiencing exactly what the characters are experiencing for one hour. I felt more connected, more moved, and more saddened during the episodes because of this technique.

There are two stand out scenes. I’ll do my best not to spoil anything. Episode three revolves around a psychologist having a conversation with Jamie to evaluate his state of mind. Holy. Fuck. This episode wins the internet. It wins everything. Erin Doherty plays the psychologist and delivers a truly remarkable performance. That’s not to say Owen Cooper isn’t amazing at portraying Jamie in this episode too. He reveals a terrifying side of the character brilliantly. But I was hanging on every word and every action of Erin Doherty’s character with rapt attention. 

And finally, the last episode wasn’t really resonating with me until the last 15 minutes. At which point, two parents have a heartfelt conversation that explores “did we do enough?” and “is this our fault?” But when the mom leaves the room, the last moments of the entire series focus on Stephen Graham, who is both a co-creator of the show and the father of the accused. We witness a moving scene in which Graham grapples with what’s happened, the impact on his family’s life, and the loss of his son. I cried and cried and cried along with Graham’s character.

I cannot recommend this show highly enough. I’ll just add some a trigger warning. If you have teenage boys or teenage girls, this show will make you think really hard about the social media and digital devices you let them have unfettered access to. As it should.