Netflix has established a revered fame for crafting deeply entertaining and thought-provoking authentic exhibits, with the streaming large utterly dominating the world of tv with each new thrilling venture they launch. The platform’s newest knockout that’s taking audiences by storm is the poignant British crime drama Adolescence, a four-part miniseries that options the skills of a adorned ensemble forged led by Stephen Graham, Ashley Walters, Erin Doherty, and Owen Cooper and follows a 13-year-old as he’s arrested for the homicide of a classmate.
Every episode was filmed in a single unbroken shot, brilliantly capturing the uncooked and devastating feelings the boy’s horrified household felt as he’s arrested and subsequently interrogated, with the drama delving right into a myriad of heavy topics like cyberbullying and poisonous masculinity. Adolescence premiered on Netflix on March 13, 2025, and has already garnered rave critiques from critics and audiences, with the collection presently holding an ideal 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating and turning into must-see viewing for streamers in all places. Let’s take a more in-depth take a look at why the drama deserves to be binge-watched this weekend.
‘Adolescence’ Is a Poignant and Deeply Haunting Crime Drama Miniseries
Illustrious tv and movie veteran Stephen Graham helped create, write, and produce the thought-provoking and profoundly highly effective 2025 crime drama miniseries Adolescence, which depicts each dad or mum’s most unfathomable nightmare and focuses on 13-year-old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) as he’s shockingly arrested for the homicide of a classmate, leaving his mother and father and sister horrified after the authorities carry out an early morning raid of their dwelling. Jamie’s devastated father Eddie (Graham) stands vigilant by his son’s facet as he’s interrogated by detectives, with the drama chronicling the aftermath and affect of his world-shattering arrest.
The four-part crime drama was masterfully directed by Philip Barantini, who thoughtfully utilized a single unbroken shot often known as a “oner” for every poignant episode, an intense and suspense-building storytelling technique that he had beforehand used within the 2021 thriller Boiling Level (which additionally featured Graham). Each gut-wrenching installment was filmed in a single steady shot and follows Jamie as he’s accused of brutally stabbing a feminine classmate, with Eddie struggling to grapple with the allegations being thrown at his son and the mounting proof that’s offered to them.

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The harrowing miniseries not solely explores the emotional trauma Jamie’s family members expertise after his distressing arrest and subsequent proclamations of his innocence but additionally boldly tackles heavy ideas like poisonous masculinity, cyberbullying, the societal affect of social media, and parental irresponsibility. Adolescence will take viewers on a chilling, dread-inducing journey as Jamie’s deeply buried ache, fragility, and troubling private emotions and attitudes are examined within the fallout of the heinous crime and somber investigation.
‘Adolescence’ Takes a Uncooked Method To Storytelling
Each critics and audiences are already raving about Adolescence upon its March 13, 2025, premiere on Netflix, with the poignant miniseries presently claiming the primary spot within the streamer’s High Ten Exhibits checklist and attracting common approval for its haunting storytelling, uncooked performances, and mesmerizing cinematography; it additionally holds a prestigious 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating and improbable 95% Popcornmeter from followers. Lead star Stephen Graham opened up in regards to the heartrending premise of the present, telling Tudum forward of its launch:
“We may have made a drama about gangs and knife crime, or a few child whose mom is an alcoholic or whose father is a violent abuser. As an alternative, we needed you to take a look at this household and suppose, ‘My God. This might be taking place to us!’ And what’s taking place right here is an bizarre household’s worst nightmare.”
Graham additionally mirrored on the choice to shoot the miniseries utilizing the “oner” strategy as an intimate various to conventional filming, calling the tactic the “marriage of each mediums” whereas acknowledging the in depth preparation work it took to get able to shoot the tragic materials. The gifted actor informed The Hollywood Reporter that he and his fellow stars rehearsed carefully with Barantini and revealed, “We went via each beat, via each second, piece by piece by piece by piece. We dissected the script, which is superbly written by Jack Thorne. And also you simply immerse your self in that character.”
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Each Graham and his co-writer Jack Thorne (Poisonous City, Enola Holmes) needed to shine a light-weight on the lethal knife crime epidemic plaguing the U.Ok. in addition to discover the horrendous questions mother and father can be compelled to ask themselves if their youngster was accused of committing a violent and brutal homicide like Jaime was. The artistic duo felt compelled to inform a sensible drama that examined the difficulty (amongst different troubling themes) head on, with Graham additional saying, “In the future, it simply actually hit my coronary heart. I simply thought: What’s taking place? Why is that this the case? What’s occurring with our society as a complete, as a collective.”
Adolescence has been lauded as a real masterclass in storytelling and a deeply unnerving viewing expertise for audiences, who will stroll away from the eloquent miniseries feeling emotionally weak and contemplative about life and society itself. In one of many numerous rave critiques the crime drama has garnered since its phenomenal debut, Selection wrote of the shifting authentic, “Gutting, uncooked and stunningly acted, Adolescence highlights how we’ve failed ourselves and can regularly fail the generations coming behind us.” Stream Adolescence on Netflix.