The TV series “Adolescence” debuted on Netflix on March 13, 2025. Since then, the show has amassed a whopping 124 million views, making it the third most-watched series on the platform. The UK crime drama marked 14-year-old Owen Cooper’s acting premiere. He plays Jamie Miller, a 13-year-old boy accused of murdering his classmate Katie Leonard (Emilia Holiday). The show opens on the morning after the crime, capturing the ensuing investigation.
In just four hour-long episodes, the actors skillfully cover the aftermath of the murder that shocked a small West Yorkshire town. “Adolescence” depicts the growing issue of social media preying on prepubescent boys’ curiosity surrounding women. The show examines how influencers feed impressionable children misogynistic ideals that warp their view of sex, relationships and rejection.
In the show, Jamie has a crush on Katie, a popular girl at his school. After a classmate leaked nude photographs of Katie, many boys call her a “slag” — a common slang term used to describe women as promiscuous — complicating Jamie’s feelings towards her. His friends regurgitate misogynistic narratives they have heard online from male influencers, inciting regressive mindsets about female sexuality and dating. The show even references influencers like Andrew Tate, whose anti-feminist content sent shock waves throughout social media platforms and impacted many teenagers’ views about women.
Cooper masterfully plays the role of an insecure boy when Katie rejects him even in her moment of vulnerability — a circumstance he believed would make her more “gettable.” Jamie’s shy disposition, childish cadence and truly authentic use of boyish slang make viewers pity the traumatized child thrown into the interrogation room. However, the audience also sees a full display of his elaborate, pathological lies to law enforcement officers, delivered with arrogance and jarring amusement. Jamie’s eyes darken at just the right second, but they soften with misty tears in the presence of his bewildered father (Stephen Graham) with perfect cinematic timing.
Jamie’s role would be intimidating for any young actor, especially under the guidance of director Philip Barantini, praised for his intense one-shot works — when the cast and crew shoot entire episodes continuously. Editors cannot stitch two scenes together in post-production, so if an actor flubbed a line or broke character, Barantini and cinematographer Matthew Lewis had to decide whether they would restart the take. When covering difficult themes like the ones discussed in this show, this style of cinematography is genius, as the viewer stays engaged and absorbs every frame without a break from the intensity.
The standout episode is the third, aptly titled “Episode 3.” It follows an interview between Jamie and a psychologist (Erin Doherty) whom the court sends to evaluate his mental state before his trial. During the episode, whenever Jamie proclaims his innocence, he says, “I didn’t do anything wrong,” as opposed to “I didn’t do it.” Scriptwriter Jack Thorne provides a haunting glimpse into Jamie’s rationalization of his crime, showing how he believed Katie’s rejection of him was justification enough.
Doherty’s acting is nothing short of Emmy-worthy. She hides her disbelief at Jamie’s thought process with careful intention, allowing only a few stunningly timed cracks in her neutrality as Jamie sheds his defensive demeanor. The boy develops a certain fondness for her since she’s the first adult in the correctional facility who speaks to him as an equal. However, when the extent of his violent tendencies and unapologetic internalized misogyny becomes revealed, she ends the interview. At this point, Jamie — distraught and physically restrained — asks, “Do you like me?” She leaves the question unanswered as she sits, paralyzed by the 13-year-old’s words. The question speaks volumes about the root of sexist rhetoric online — the desire to receive female attention due to internal inadequacy and loneliness.
Doherty’s performance tears the audience to shreds as she portrays a woman sworn to professional integrity who feels destroyed looking at the boy sitting across from her. She struggles to choose between providing him with false comfort and remaining an impartial evaluator.
The sole criticism of this show would be the purposeful exclusion of Katie and her family as characters. She appears in the videographic evidence of her stabbing, but otherwise, characters only mention her briefly. While the showmakers intended to bring focus to her life by emphasizing how it was heartlessly stolen, many viewers perceive Katie’s absence as shifting the spotlight away from the victim and instead granting infamy and attention to the killer. The lack of a proper background can lead audiences to feel less moved by her death, as there is no opportunity to build an emotional attachment.
The final episode surprisingly doesn’t include Jamie at all, but instead follows a day in the life of his family after his imprisonment. It depicts a perfectly normal and loving family, wrecked by the knowledge of their son’s actions. The director deliberately shirks the overused storyline of an abusive upbringing to show that violent tendencies aren’t exclusively products of toxic households. In today’s world, it’s important to be cognizant of the results of unregulated internet access.
Around a week after the show’s premiere, Netflix released a video on its YouTube channel packed with exclusive interviews of the cast and crew. Graham shared the real-life heartbreaking stories that inspired Jamie’s character, reaffirming that the production was a documentary of many recent incidents pieced together. The team of cinematographers explained the painstaking yet rewarding process of shooting one-take episodes, spotlighting the crucial role of on-screen chemistry and weeks of rehearsal. In the video, Barantini said he hopes the show will act as a bridge between parents and children, encouraging open conversations.
“We’re not trying to give answers or lay blame, particularly,” Barantini told viewers. “But it’s a really complicated time, and we need to be talking about these things.”
