Adolescence is a new Netflix thriller with a unique twist you can’t miss

If you watch one show on Netflix this week, it needs to be Adolescence. Why? There’s one thing that sets it apart from everything else.

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Why are fans already calling Netflix‘s Adolescence the best TV show of 2025 so far? Alongside a brutal storyline, there’s something that makes the new thriller particularly unique.

It only takes a split second of seeing Stephen Graham in a trailer to know you’re locked into the next big binge-worthy TV show. Sordid tales and true crime are already doing well on the streaming service this year, with American Murder: Gabby Petito and Toxic Town among the gripping titles we’ve binged in 2025.

Alongside his new Disney+ show A Thousand Blows, Graham is back to up the ante on Netflix. Adolescence is available to watch now, and fans are already calling it one of the best shows of the year.

Why? Alongside stellar performances and a shocking story, it’s something no Netflix series has ever done before.

Netflix’s Adolescence is unique for one extraordinary reason

All four episodes of Adolescence have been filmed as one continuous shot, meaning the camera never cuts to another scene or takes any breaks. Essentially, it’s a filmed play.

If you think you’ve seen this style of storytelling before, you have. Director Philip Barantini is also behind 2021 firecracker Boiling Point, a movie that was followed by a longer TV series. The film was also one continuous shot, following Graham as Andy Jones, the head chef of a fancy London restaurant, as he has a gradual breakdown.

When you consider the subject matter being dealt with in Adolescence, this is impressive. Without going into too much detail (yet), the story sees a 13-year-old boy being arrested and accused of murdering a classmate.

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“It was quite difficult, but it was fun as well,” Barantini told The Independent. “It was meticulously planned.

“[Tech rehearsals] would be an opportunity for the sound team to put the booms where they needed to be. And, we had all the support and the runners and ADs all dressed in police uniforms in the first episode and teachers in the second episode so they could be on camera and cueing things,” he explained. “It was technically challenging, but a huge collaboration.”

Even if the subject matter isn’t typically your thing, the way the story is constructed is worth the watch on its own.

What to expect

Adolescence follows what happens in the four hours after a 13-year-old boy called Jamie Miller is arrested for the murder of a teenage girl who goes to his school. We see this unfold from the perspective of Jamie’s family, the investigating police officers, and a clinical psychologist assigned to his case.

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As Graham stated during a preview screening, “We’d been asked to create a one-shot piece which was going to be a series, so we were coming up with the possibilities of what we’d make it about, and I’d read an article in the paper about a young boy stabbing a young girl.

“It made me feel a bit cold. Then about three or four months later, there was a piece on the news about a young boy who’d stabbed a young girl. They are young boys, they’re not men. And it was completely the opposite end of the country.

“We could have made a drama about gangs and knife crime, or about a kid whose mother is an alcoholic or whose father is a violent abuser,” he continued. “Instead, we wanted you to look at this family and think, ‘My God. This could be happening to us!’ And what’s happening here is an ordinary family’s worst nightmare.”

In essence, expect four hours of tense, heartstopping TV. Given each episode is one shot, it’s going to be tricky not to binge the whole thing in one go.

Fans already think it’s the best TV show of the year

For those who have already seen Adolescence, it’s gone down outstandingly well. Multiple sources are calling it the best TV show of the year so far.

“It’s one of the most remarkable and indeed harrowing things I’ve watched in years,” one said, with another agreeing “Joining the chorus of acclaim for Stephen Graham’s new Netflix series, Adolescence, the best show of 2025 so far.”

A third weighed in “Each and every person in Adolescence on Netflix is acting their ass off.”

The Guardian described it as “the closest thing to TV perfection in decades, with The Wrap adding “Netflix’s Disturbing Limited Series Is Almost Impossible to Stomach.”

Intrigued? I think so. FOMO begins now (so get watching).

To find out how it plays out, read our Adolescence ending explained. While for more drama, check out our list of the best thrillers on Netflix, and new shows on Netflix this month.

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