Official Trailer:
I did not have a clue what Adolescence series is about except that my friend pointed me to it without his take on it. As we go through the opening sequence, we sense something is odd. As the episode progressed it felt like I am in a hypnotic spell. Not able to take the eyes away from the screen. I want to catch every detail. I started breathing normally only after the episode ended. The content, narration technique, and performances grips you. A claustrophobic effect. In first episode, the police break into Eddie (Stephen Graham) and Manda’s (Christine Tremarco) home, storms into the bedroom of their 13-year-old son, Jamie (Owen Cooper), arresting him on suspicion of stabbing and murdering his classmate, Katie. They drive to the police station and Jamie is taken through police procedure of mug shots, finger printing, sample collection and a strip search. We watch the juvenile’s entry into criminal justice system in excruciating detail. Jamie claims he didn’t do anything. Eddie believes his son obviously. The final episode ends with investigators sharing the CCTV footages and video evidence of the stabbing. Even after the footage Jamie claims he didn’t do it.
As we keep watching we realize there are no cuts. The whole episode is one single shot, we watch the happenings in real time. Yes, in real time, no breaks in timeline. What took place in those 50+ minutes. All the four episodes are done in one long single shot. We are shown 50+ mts of character’s lives in each episode. Time shifts only between the episodes, off screen. Story happens over a period of 13 months. Single shot technique didn’t come out as a gimmick. It gave a real time feel and forces us to follow the characters movements. We have to marvel at the technical team behind the cinematography. Camera is always moving to get the point of view. There is dynamism. Movements change direction. Not just right and left but shifts to aerial tracking shot and then beautifully lands in school parking lot. It immerses us in the tension and devastation that engulfs the characters. In the final episode, we go from Eddie’s home to a shopping center and back. Looking at the sequence we can only wonder, how much preparation they would have gone through – characters go through emotional roller-coaster in all episodes. It is a work of art.
The second episode shifts the focus to investigation. DI Luke Bascombe (Ashley Walters) and DS Misha Frank (Faye Marsay) visit the school and talk to Jamie’s friends and class students. They go through social media messages to piece together the nature of relationship between Jamie and Katie. They search for the missing murder weapon. I never knew there is so much interpretation behind emojis. Red pill, exploding dynamite, kidney beans, 100, 80/20, various colored heart emojis each having different meaning. I had to look up what manosphere meant. I felt like a social media illiterate – is that a good or bad thing? Similar to what Luke Bascombe felt towards the end of this episode.
Third episode is an intense exchange between Jamie and the psychologist Briony Ariston (Erin Doherty). They tackle questions of masculinity, attraction, bullying, revenge, incel. Jamie goes through myriads of emotions – humor, sarcasm, friendly, anger, aggression, self-doubt. Both the actors nail their performance. Owen Cooper is awe inspiring and fantastic to watch. You see only Jamie as he goes through emotional switches in real time. One Word: Brilliant 👏
Final episode focuses on Miller’s family struggle to navigate their life. On Eddie’s 50th birthday, they find graffiti written on their van. They contemplate the idea of moving to a different town. But they realize it will only make things worse. Jamie decides to change his plea to guilty plea. Eddie and Manda have a heartbreaking conversation on where they went wrong with their parenting, what they could have done more, their parent’s parenting approach? They made Jamie. But they also look at Lisa (Amelie Pease), their daughter, and wonder they made her too.
A big applause to the writers 👏 I loved the echo scenes between 3rd and 4th episodes. Between Jamie and Eddie. What Jamie felt when Eddie looked away. We get to hear from Eddie on why he looked away. Both lose their temper and show their aggression. Both pose similar questions, Jamie to psychologist and Eddie to Manda. Jamie is able to overcome his fears if his father looks at him rather than looking away – blood sampling scene from first episode for a sample. I liked the bookends touch – story beings in Jamie’s room and ends in Jamie’s room.
We don’t see Katie, the victim, in any of the episodes except through video footage and social media messages. We don’t see Jamie’s trial or jury verdict. We don’t get to hear psychologists’ assessment of Jamie. It is left to the viewers. The question remains: why did Jamie stabbed and killed Katie? Because of bullying? Looking ugly or lack of self-esteem? Masculinity? Online propaganda? Parenting? Even though Adolescence is a harrowing watch for the parents, writers don’t shift the blame on parenting. It exposes us to other external influence(r)s – social media sites, manosphere, role models. Are the schools and teachers losing their influence / control on children? What is the appropriate age for kids to have phones? Separate rooms, locked doors, and privacy – where do we draw the line? None of these questions are easy to answer. Second episode shows a glimpse of school environment – classrooms, teachers, and students. Fear engulfed me – I just hope our schools are not like that.
Big success of the series is that it doesn’t come across as scripted. It felt like we are alongside with these people in real time in their life. Brilliant performance from all the actors. Special applause to Owen Cooper, Stephen Graham, Ashley Walters and Erin Doherty. A heartbreaking and a harrowing series. Appropriate one for our times. Well-made one 👌🏼