Adolescence on Netflix

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.

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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!!

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

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

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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They discuss some of the logistics in this article:

And in this article:

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

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...shawn-seesahai

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

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.

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Planning to see it.