Adolescence - Season 1

In the series Adolecence, fourteen-year-old Jamie Miller is one day taken from his bed and charged. His parents are devastated and have no idea how it could ever have come to this. As the mother of a fourteen-year-old teenager, I was immediately triggered to watch Adolecence. It was a confrontation I had not expected. But; the truth is hard.

What happens to you as a parent when it turns out that your child has been influenced by social media to the point where he or she is able to do things you never thought possible? If it all stays within limits, the most you can do as a parent is shrug your shoulders and hope for the best. But when your fourteen-year-old teenager is involved in a serious crime, your world seems to collapse. This is exactly what happens in the series Adolescence, written and created by Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne. The series is directed by Philip Barantini. Stephen Graham also stars in the series. He plays the role of the father whose son is suspected of murder.



Jamie Miller, played by Owen Cooper, is dragged from his bed. It soon becomes clear what the reason for his arrest is. He is accused of murder. The fourteen-year-old boy sits in the police van, crying, while officers try to calm him down. What follows is a story in which parents, officers and a psychologist try to find out why a girl, who Jamie did not know well, was murdered by him. He denies the incident and his parents support him in this, while they are looked down upon by the rest of the village.

Adolescence is filmed in a unique way

In addition to the impressive story, the series is also filmed in a unique way. Everything is recorded in what is called a 'one-shot'. This means that the scenes are recorded in one go, so scenes cannot be redone. In addition, only one camera is used. This ensures that the scenes are not polished, but raw and pure. This is something that Barantini also had in mind. And this also makes it so realistic and vulnerable. Especially when the first notes of Fragile by Sting are started a capella by a children's choir, the vulnerability of the entire situation hits hard.



Nothing but praise for the cast. The way they play their roles is truly impressive. Jamie, Owen Cooper, shows the two sides of a teenager that are so recognizable: on the one hand the vulnerable boy and on the other hand the boy who has built a wall and wants to show how strong he is. It is impressive to see how quickly he can switch between emotions that both trigger a lot in both the psychologist and the viewer.

Chirstine Tremarco (Little Blue Boy and Casualty) plays her role as Manda Miller with great conviction. As Jamie's mother, you feel her helplessness and sadness. But the strength and confidence she exudes also make her very convincing. We know that Stephen Graham (Snatch and Bodies) has a lot to offer as an actor. In his role as a father, you really see a tough guy with a soft core. The disbelief that this is happening to them jumps off the screen. The doubts, the sadness and the unconditional love for his child are palpable.

People who sow division have already reached us and our children through social media

Because the episodes of the series were recorded in one go, there doesn't seem to be much room left for details, so that as a viewer you can better understand things about the how and why. In my opinion, this series is not primarily about the victim and the perpetrator. I suspect that it is about the fact that we can all become victims. We live in a society in which we are often lived and where things happen that we have no influence on. This has nothing to do with disinterest, but more with the fact that we do not know how to deal with social media. Even though it seems that everything is running smoothly and we think we have everything under control, algorithms and people who sow division via social media have already reached us and our children without us realizing it.