Netflix’s intense Adolescence asks whether the manosphere drove a 13-year-old to kill

This one-shot exploration of teenage knife crime and the pernicious influence of the manosphere is harrowing but compelling
Netflix’s intense Adolescence asks whether the manosphere drove a 13-year-old to kill

👉 Click Here to read in detail 👈


Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Get our The Life Cinematic email for free

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

How do you solve the problem of today? That’s the question that therapists often pose to people experiencing the wide range of life’s traumas. Don’t relitigate the past, don’t attempt to fix the future, try and solve the problem of today. It’s a mantra that crops up in Netflix’s Adolescence, a four-part drama looking at the fallout from an unthinkable crime, and the many todays that must be solved, over and over, as a consequence.

It’s 6am on an apparently normal morning. Normal, that is, until armed police, led by DI Bascombe (Ashley Walters) storm into a family home and arrest a 13-year-old boy, Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper). His parents, Eddie and Manda (played by Stephen Graham and Christine Tremarco), watch on in horror as their little boy is dragged to the local police station, processed and placed in a cell. Jamie is suspected of murdering a schoolmate, and alongside Eddie, as his appropriate adult, and a solicitor, must face the evidence that the police have compiled against him. It is a nightmarish frenzy, transporting the Miller family from their pocket of suburban calm to the fear, recrimination and revelations of a murder inquiry.

It is a stunning opening. Each of the show’s four episodes is filmed in one continuous take, a technique mastered by its star Graham (who co-created this project with extremely busy scribe Jack Thorne) and director Philip Barantini on the 2021 film Boiling Point. In real-time, we watch the Miller family from the moment the police enter their home, to the terrible presentation, less than an hour later, of the authorities’ smoking gun against Jamie. The confusion and tension are palpable, as is a sense of sorrow. “I hate juvenile cases,” a duty nurse says, after testing Jamie’s understanding of his situation. “No one likes them,” the desk sergeant replies. And yet, everyone does their job methodically, the camera swimming around the station to capture the minutiae of Jamie’s terminal arrival in the justice system.

That is day one. The other three episodes are spread across the next year and a half, as the investigation progresses. Bascombe and his deputy DS Frank (Faye Marsay) visit the victim’s school; Jamie is assessed in prison by psychologist Briony Ariston (Erin Doherty); and, finally, Jamie’s plea comes through on Eddie’s 50th birthday. None of these episodes beg the one-shot technique in the same way that the first does. Indeed, they sometimes feel stifled by it, because the criminal justice system is a glacial thing, and rarely operates in kinetic hour-long slots. This makes the series feel lop-sided: a virtuoso first episode that catches you clean in the gut, followed by three episodes that feel more instructional. After all, the first hour of Jamie’s incarceration is a natural starting point, but what does the creative decision to focus on day three, or months seven or thirteen, tell us about the story?

Briony Ariston (Erin Doherty) and Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) talk it out (Netflix )

Graham and Thorne seem to want to place the accusations against Jamie into context, both familial and social. Words like “incel”, “manosphere”, and “red pill” are rapidly deployed (“Andrew Tate shite,” comes DS Frank’s judgment). At home, his parents deal with their guilt; a guilt focused far more on their son than his victim. “He was in his room, wasn’t he?” Eddie despairs. “We thought he was safe.” It is a challenging but miserable premise, one in which no one is spared their share of the blame. Violent misogyny being fomented in Britain’s schools, families blind to their kids’ internet activities, parents handing down destructive traits. We are all part of the problem that leads to Jamies, and leads to children dead from knife wounds in bleak, empty car parks.

Cooper’s performance as the accused is very able, nimbly shifting the audience’s sympathies for Jamie. The two-handed episode that he shares with Doherty is troubling yet compelling, and the acting throughout the series (Graham is, once again, likely the standout) is a masterclass (and that’s putting aside the self-imposed constraints of the one-shot technique). The episodes themselves are more of a mixed bag: investigations at a school feel too much like a bog-standard police procedural meets Grange Hill, while the show’s resolution feels calculated towards despair. It is a fine line when creating a show that fictionalises the real experiences faced by real families, between empathy inducement and misery porn. And for Adolescence, that line becomes blurry at times.

Yet there is no doubting the intensity of that first episode. It is television in its purest distillation: unflinching, pulse-quickening. It caters both to our morbid fascination with crimes at the exotic extremes, and the sense of unravelling a moral knot. The fact that the rest of the series can’t quite match those heights is both a problem and a testament to the impact of that opener. Never less than well-made, Adolescence sustains a rawness that makes it a tough but compulsive watch.



👉 Click Here to read in detail 👈

Miatamil

Listed here the latest Trending News

Stephen Graham issues warning to parents after Netflix’s Adolescence

Stephen Graham issues warning to parents after Netflix’s Adolescence

Exclusive: â??Thereâ??s influences that we have no idea of that are affecting our young culture,â?? Graham told The Independent

Read more >> : Cick here

Share on : 👇
Twitter (X) Facebook truthsocial gettr pinterest whatsapp telegram
Stephen Graham on how the rise of incel culture influenced new Netflix show Adolescence

Stephen Graham on how the rise of incel culture influenced new Netflix show Adolescence

Stephen Graham's new Netflix series Adolescence centres on a 13-year-old boy arrested for the murder of a young girl and the rise of incel culture.

Read more >> : Cick here

Share on : 👇
Twitter (X) Facebook truthsocial gettr pinterest whatsapp telegram
10 shows like Invincible to watch next

10 shows like Invincible to watch next

Invincible Season 3 has come to an end but that doesn’t mean the fun has to end just yet…

Read more >> : Cick here

Share on : 👇
Twitter (X) Facebook truthsocial gettr pinterest whatsapp telegram
Who is in new Netflix series Adolescence?

Who is in new Netflix series Adolescence?

The new series we dubbed ‘the year’s most important TV’

Read more >> : Cick here

Share on : 👇
Twitter (X) Facebook truthsocial gettr pinterest whatsapp telegram
'The Wheel of Time' cast on the most anticipated relationships of Season 3

'The Wheel of Time' cast on the most anticipated relationships of Season 3

"It's meeting someone's family and you're like, "Oh. I see why you're crazy!"

Read more >> : Cick here

Share on : 👇
Twitter (X) Facebook truthsocial gettr pinterest whatsapp telegram
Billy Flynn Exits Days of Our Lives for The Young and the Restless

Billy Flynn Exits Days of Our Lives for The Young and the Restless

Billy Flynn has exited ‘Days of Our Lives’ after 10 years and is headed to ‘The Young and the Restless’

Read more >> : Cick here

Share on : 👇
Twitter (X) Facebook truthsocial gettr pinterest whatsapp telegram
Here's every song on the 'Adolescence' soundtrack

Here's every song on the 'Adolescence' soundtrack

Stephen Graham reunites with Boiling Point director Philip Barantini for British crime drama Adolescence on Netflix.

Read more >> : Cick here

Share on : 👇
Twitter (X) Facebook truthsocial gettr pinterest whatsapp telegram
‘Invincible’ Creator Robert Kirkman on That Conquest Finale Fight, Surprise ‘Walking Dead’ Reunion and Mark Fighting Satan in Unused Comic Storyline

‘Invincible’ Creator Robert Kirkman on That Conquest Finale Fight, Surprise ‘Walking Dead’ Reunion and Mark Fighting Satan in Unused Comic Storyline

'Invincible' creator Robert Kirkman explains the Season 3 finale, including casting Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Conquest and that devil storyline

Read more >> : Cick here

Share on : 👇
Twitter (X) Facebook truthsocial gettr pinterest whatsapp telegram
Review: An accidental hero feels no pain in 'Novocaine,' a brutal yet weightless action-comedy

Review: An accidental hero feels no pain in 'Novocaine,' a brutal yet weightless action-comedy

Jack Quaid has chops that could take him much further than this violent live-action cartoon marked by cringeworthy misfortune and a distinct lack of consequence.

Read more >> : Cick here

Share on : 👇
Twitter (X) Facebook truthsocial gettr pinterest whatsapp telegram
EastEnders star details 'burden' of BBC soap after surprise exit

EastEnders star details 'burden' of BBC soap after surprise exit

Natalie Cassidy - who played Sonia Fowler on EastEnders for over three decades - told Gavin and Stacey star Joanna Page that she didn't miss being on the BBC soap at all

Read more >> : Cick here

Share on : 👇
Twitter (X) Facebook truthsocial gettr pinterest whatsapp telegram
Stream It Or Skip It: 'Adolescence' on Netflix, a gripping drama about a 13-year-old being arrested for the murder of a classmate

Stream It Or Skip It: 'Adolescence' on Netflix, a gripping drama about a 13-year-old being arrested for the murder of a classmate

Each episode of the series, written by Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne, plays out in one continuous shot.

Read more >> : Cick here

Share on : 👇
Twitter (X) Facebook truthsocial gettr pinterest whatsapp telegram
Kim Kardashian's Engagement Rings: What Happened to Kris Humphries, Kanye West Diamonds?

Kim Kardashian's Engagement Rings: What Happened to Kris Humphries, Kanye West Diamonds?

Kim Kardashian reveals she had to return her engagement ring to Kris Humphries in their 2011 divorce, despite paying for it herself. The reality star, who’s been married three times, shares the status of her engagement rings on the latest episode of ‘The Kardashians,’ as she and Khloe fly to India for the wedding of billionaire heir, Anant Ambani. Kim shares that her diamond from Kanye West's 2013 proposal will be passed down to their eldest daughter, North West. 'The Kardashians' streams Thursdays on Hulu.

Read more >> : Cick here

Share on : 👇
Twitter (X) Facebook truthsocial gettr pinterest whatsapp telegram


These hashtags listed here are the most popular shared hashtags on Worldwide


Twitter (X), Inc. was an American social media company based in San Francisco, California, which operated and was named for its flagship social media network prior to its rebrand as X. In addition to Twitter, the company previously operated the Vine short video app and Periscope livestreaming service

Twitter (X) is one of the most popular social media platforms, with over 619 million monthly active users worldwide. One of the most exciting features of Twitter (X) is the ability to see what topics are trending in real-time. Twitter trends are a fascinating way to stay up to date on what people are talking about on the platform, and they can also be a valuable tool for businesses and individuals to stay relevant and informed. In this article, we will discuss Twitter (X) trends, how they work, and how you can use them to your advantage.

What are Twitter (X) Worldwide Trends?
Twitter (X) Worldwide trends are a list of topics that are currently being talked about on the platform and also world. The topics on this list change in real-time and are based on the volume of tweets using a particular hashtag or keyword. Twitter (X) Worldwide trends can be localized to a Worldwide country or region or can be global, depending on the topic's popularity.

How Do Twitter (X) Worldwide Trends Work?
Twitter (X) Worldwide trends are generated by an algorithm that analyzes the volume of tweets using a particular hashtag or keyword. When the algorithm detects a sudden increase in tweets using a specific hashtag or keyword, it considers that topic to be trending.

Once a topic is identified as trending, it is added to the list of Twitter (X) Worldwide trends. The topics on this list are ranked based on their popularity, with the most popular topics appearing at the top of the list.

Twitter (X) Worldwide trends can be filtered by location or category, allowing users to see what topics are trending in their area or in a particular industry. Additionally, users can click on a trending topic to see all of the tweets using that hashtag or keyword.