Adolescence on Netflix

[Austruck]

This is a four-episode crime drama on Netflix (2025).

I tend to watch crime docs and dramas so Netflix suggested this. I went in not really knowing anything. I figured I'd put it on in the background while doom scrolling...

WRONG. The first episode held me spellbound from the first minute. I won't say much about the plot (i'm halfway done with the four episodes that tell this story). But the photography and the time progression are what drew me in and held me there.

The camera seems to follow various characters around in real time, weaving seamlessly in and out with them, even during sequences of running and climbing through windows. Fabulous stuff because it builds the tension and really makes you feel like you're there in the story with them. The first two episodes have each been essentially one long unending scene.

Anybody else watching this well-done show? I know that my previous plans for the rest of the evening have now been tossed aside and I'm gonna binge the last two episodes.

[Austruck]

I'm updating my own post. I just finished the last episode of the four.

This is probably the best, most riveting mini-series I've seen in a long, long time. Absolutely fabulous in all areas. The acting, the cinematography, the plot, the writing, the characters. I can't recommend this highly enough.

[ScarletLion]

I'm updating my own post. I just finished the last episode of the four.

This is probably the best, most riveting mini-series I've seen in a long, long time. Absolutely fabulous in all areas. The acting, the cinematography, the plot, the writing, the characters. I can't recommend this highly enough.

Hi, my son has asked if he can watch this. He's nearly 13. Is it suitable?

Or is it going to give him evil ideas!!

[Nausicaä]

The camera seems to follow various characters around in real time, weaving seamlessly in and out with them, even during sequences of running and climbing through windows.

Each episode is shot in one take. It's one I'm looking forwards to watching.

[Austruck]

Hi, my son has asked if he can watch this. He's nearly 13. Is it suitable?

Or is it going to give him evil ideas!!

Just in case someone doesn't want to read anything related to the show. (I went in blind and I think it helped me.)

There's no gore. The show takes place after the fact, entirely, and goes through the process of arresting the young man, showing us (in that one long take) how that works. The next episode is at the school (another long take/scene). The third episode is the boy with a counselor/psychologist. The fourth episode is with the parents/his sister.

That's it. In the first episode in the police station they watch a CCTV clip of the event, but it is on a laptop and it's from the perspective of a very high-up camera (on a light pole). So, again, not gory.

Depending on your son, I'd say it's fine. What's disturbing is the concept of our social media-laden times and how that is affecting these younger people who don't know anything before social media.

[hownos]

This is a four-episode crime drama on Netflix (2025).

I tend to watch crime docs and dramas so Netflix suggested this. I went in not really knowing anything. I figured I'd put it on in the background while doom scrolling...

WRONG. The first episode held me spellbound from the first minute. I won't say much about the plot (i'm halfway done with the four episodes that tell this story). But the photography and the time progression are what drew me in and held me there.

The camera seems to follow various characters around in real time, weaving seamlessly in and out with them, even during sequences of running and climbing through windows. Fabulous stuff because it builds the tension and really makes you feel like you're there in the story with them. The first two episodes have each been essentially one long unending scene.

Anybody else watching this well-done show? I know that my previous plans for the rest of the evening have now been tossed aside and I'm gonna binge the last two episodes.


I might watch it this weekend.

[Austruck]

I might watch it this weekend.

Just block out all four hours in case you find it tough to stop after *any* of these episodes. You've been warned.

Also, it seems I barely made it here to post this before it took off like crazy and shot to #1 on Netflix. I've already seen a half dozen articles about it (the photography, the acting, the choices made to tell the story).

[ScarletLion]

This is a four-episode crime drama on Netflix (2025).

I tend to watch crime docs and dramas so Netflix suggested this. I went in not really knowing anything. I figured I'd put it on in the background while doom scrolling...

WRONG. The first episode held me spellbound from the first minute. I won't say much about the plot (i'm halfway done with the four episodes that tell this story). But the photography and the time progression are what drew me in and held me there.

The camera seems to follow various characters around in real time, weaving seamlessly in and out with them, even during sequences of running and climbing through windows. Fabulous stuff because it builds the tension and really makes you feel like you're there in the story with them. The first two episodes have each been essentially one long unending scene.

Anybody else watching this well-done show? I know that my previous plans for the rest of the evening have now been tossed aside and I'm gonna binge the last two episodes.

Yeah I've just finished this, and it's brilliant. started and couldn't stop watching. From a technical viewpoint the camerawork is stunning and although they are not single take episodes, they give the feeling of it. It's a brilliantly made tv show that also makes you wonder about your morals. We empathise. Empathy is key to it all. I have a 12 year old son, so yeah that is all kinds of messed up with my head right now.

Stephen Graham is probably in a career best mode here but I think the mother (Christine Tremarco) is the best. She lets out a cry in the final episode that I don't think would be seen in many movies. It would be re-shot because of the noise / face / whatever. It was beyond real. I cried my eyes out in the last 30 minutes. It reminded me alot of the film 'mass'. Which is also brilliant.

9/10

[Austruck]

Yeah I've just finished this, and it's brilliant. started and couldn't stop watching. From a technical viewpoint the camerawork is stunning and although they are not single take episodes, they give the feeling of it. It's a brilliantly made tv show that also makes you wonder about your morals. We empathise. Empathy is key to it all. I have a 12 year old son, so yeah that is all kinds of messed up with my head right now.

Stephen Graham is probably in a career best mode here but I think the mother (Christine Tremarco) is the best. She lets out a cry in the final episode that I don't think would be seen in many movies. It would be re-shot because of the noise / face / whatever. It was beyond real. I cried my eyes out in the last 30 minutes. It reminded me alot of the film 'mass'. Which is also brilliant.

9/10

I admit I cried a lot during that final episode too. The way the parents go back and forth about whether they could have done more was heartbreaking to watch, mostly due to that realistic, fabulous acting. I agree the actress playing the mom was brilliant in that last episode. Subtle nuances of how a parent would truly react in a situation as horrid as this.

Everyone was so well cast and just right. Nobody was a caricature. Everyone felt complex, like real people are.

I'm still trying to figure out how they managed that camera work from the hood of the van in episode 4. :D :D

[ScarletLion]

I admit I cried a lot during that final episode too. The way the parents go back and forth about whether they could have done more was heartbreaking to watch, mostly due to that realistic, fabulous acting. I agree the actress playing the mom was brilliant in that last episode. Subtle nuances of how a parent would truly react in a situation as horrid as this.

Everyone was so well cast and just right. Nobody was a caricature. Everyone felt complex, like real people are.

I'm still trying to figure out how they managed that camera work from the hood of the van in episode 4. :D :D

Very clever camerawork...putting it on a rack mount on the hood? I reckon the car is probably on a trailer.....do we ever see the bottom of the wheels? Graham is not driving it after all.

Doesn't really matter. Fantastic show. It takes a good show to get me enthused about TV rather than film and this did it.

[Austruck]

Very clever camerawork...putting it on a rack mount on the hood? I reckon the car is probably on a trailer.....do we ever see the bottom of the wheels? Graham is not driving it after all.

Doesn't really matter. Fantastic show. It takes a good show to get me enthused about TV rather than film and this did it.
I dunno if the van was on a trailer or anything... since we see it from various angles in the driveway and then at the Wainwright's store. If it was on any sort of trailer or being pulled, then the camera work from inside the van (behind the seats) on the way home was somehow different, giving us that angle of the front of the van.

[ScarletLion]

I dunno if the van was on a trailer or anything... since we see it from various angles in the driveway and then at the Wainwright's store. If it was on any sort of trailer or being pulled, then the camera work from inside the van (behind the seats) on the way home was somehow different, giving us that angle of the front of the van.

There are loads of cuts in it though, they could alter the van doing a cut.

It feels like the success of Boiling Point gave them ideas to do this. This is even better I think.

[ScarletLion]

I just read that the DoP claims each episode is a one take with zero cuts. Which is pretty unbelievable. Props to the crew for an amazing achievement.

[Stirchley]

This is a four-episode crime drama on Netflix (2025).

I tend to watch crime docs and dramas so Netflix suggested this. I went in not really knowing anything. I figured I'd put it on in the background while doom scrolling...

WRONG. The first episode held me spellbound from the first minute. I won't say much about the plot (i'm halfway done with the four episodes that tell this story). But the photography and the time progression are what drew me in and held me there.

The camera seems to follow various characters around in real time, weaving seamlessly in and out with them, even during sequences of running and climbing through windows. Fabulous stuff because it builds the tension and really makes you feel like you're there in the story with them. The first two episodes have each been essentially one long unending scene.

Anybody else watching this well-done show? I know that my previous plans for the rest of the evening have now been tossed aside and I'm gonna binge the last two episodes.

Thanks to your review it’s now in my Q.

[kgaard]

I just read that the DoP claims each episode is a one take with zero cuts. Which is pretty unbelievable. Props to the crew for an amazing achievement.

They discuss some of the logistics in this article (https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/feb/28/is-this-the-most-terrifying-tv-show-of-our-times-adolescence-the-drama-that-will-horrify-all-parents):

He takes me through the show’s opening sequence. “When the episode starts, my cinematographer Matt is holding the camera,” he explains. “As we’re filming the actors in the car, the camera’s being attached to a crane. The car drives off, and the crane follows. While this is happening, Matt has gone in another car, driven ahead and jumped out so he can take the camera into the house. When we come back out of the house, the other camera operator Lee is sat in the custody van. Matt would pass Lee the camera, so now Lee’s got the camera while Matt drives ahead to the police station, so he’s ready to take the camera when we go inside.”

And in this article (https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/mar/21/adolescence-netflix-seven-things-you-didnt-know):

In the final moments of episode two, there is an incredible shot where the camera magically takes off and flies through the sky before landing next to Graham. Here is how Barantini described it: “As Ashley [Walters, as DI Bascombe] leaves in his car, we have a team coming up behind Matt [the cinematographer, Matthew Lewis], who clip the camera to a drone with a hook. Then we fly the drone over the town. In the meantime, Matt legs it into a van. He drives to the end site, catches the drone with two other people, disconnects it and starts walking towards Stephen’s face.” Lewis’s journey had to be split-second accurate and, as Barantini revealed: “If you watch it again, you’ll see his van drive into the car park as the drone comes in to land.”

[hownos]

i haven't finished it but 13 seems a bit too young for the premise of this series.

[kgaard]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/sep/27/two-boys-sentenced-wolverhampton-machete-murder-shawn-seesahai

[hownos]

The ending was quite powerful. The family seemed decent enough but yet this monster was created somehow.

[7thson]

Great show just saw it a few days ago and I am glad I had penty of time to just watch it through. The time goes by quick and it is an emotional show. Difficult to share too much about it without spoilers, but definitely reccomend it.

[Stirchley]

Great show just saw it a few days ago and I am glad I had penty of time to just watch it through. The time goes by quick and it is an emotional show. Difficult to share too much about it without spoilers, but definitely reccomend it.

Planning to see it.

[WrinkledMind]

Watched it over the weekend. Terrific acting, especially from the kid & the camerawork helps in creating an uneasy atmosphere & keeping you hooked, but I felt it could easily have been much much shorter.
It's an important series for our times, when kids are getting an easy access to material & role models that are highly inappropriate.

[Tugg]

Watching 3rd Episode between the accused and a psychologist felt like I was watching top TV. Other Episodes were no drag either. I highly recommend. Powerful stuff.

[honeykid]

For those who are really interested there's a good Q&A here with the director and DoP.

To address a couple of comments in the thread, each episode is one shot (they show some of how it's done with drones in this) and 13 is the perfect age, IMO. Especially as the child in the story is that age.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6F7JSyNahU

[Stirchley]

I'm updating my own post. I just finished the last episode of the four.

This is probably the best, most riveting mini-series I've seen in a long, long time. Absolutely fabulous in all areas. The acting, the cinematography, the plot, the writing, the characters. I can't recommend this highly enough.

Saved me the trouble of giving my thoughts. Agree with all you’ve said.

[Austruck]

Saved me the trouble of giving my thoughts. Agree with all you’ve said.

And it's crazy how much this miniseries has gone viral just since I posted about it! For once I was ahead of a trend. :D :D

[Stirchley]

And it's crazy how much this miniseries has gone viral just since I posted about it! For once I was ahead of a trend. :D :D

You’re an Influencer!

[Stirchley]

Watched it over the weekend. Terrific acting, especially from the kid & the camerawork helps in creating an uneasy atmosphere & keeping you hooked, but I felt it could easily have been much much shorter.
It's an important series for our times, when kids are getting an easy access to material & role models that are highly inappropriate.

Ironic & tragic that a student in Texas stabbed another student to death at a track meet for no reason that we know of on Tuesday.

[chawhee]

Excellent miniseries, though I expected the second half to play out differently than it did based on the first half. In hindsight, it comes together well and the finale is absolutely gut-wrenching. The acting quality is unbelievable given the one shot episodes.