It’s every parent’s ultimate nightmare. The cops storm into your house early in the morning, demand to see your 13-year-old son and then take him away and accuse him of murder. In Adolescence, the soul-piercing four-part Netflix series by actor Stephen Graham (Peaky Blinders, A Thousand Blows), co-written with Jack Thorne, the shocked Miller family reels from the news that Jamie (Owen Cooper in a performance that will shatter and haunt you) might have killed a 13-year-old girl.

Each episode is shot in one take, and while that might sound like a gimmick, it works and doesn’t call attention to itself, making it feel like we’re experiencing this live and with the same rawness and realness of its characters. The first episode centres on Jamie and his father, Eddie (Graham), going through questioning; the second revolves around two detectives (Ashley Walters and Faye Marsay) venturing into Jamie’s school; the third — and most explosive — focuses on a session between a psychologist (Briony Ariston) and Jamey; and the fourth — the most wrenching — follows the Miller family at home eight months after the crime.

 

All told, this is a heartbreaking look at a devastating tragedy that leaves a community and a family grappling with the heartbreak and wondering if they played a part in what happened. It’s powerful, and finds Graham being a force both in front of and behind the camera.

 

Boluwatife Adesina
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Boluwatife Adesina is a media writer and the helmer of the Downtown Review page. He’s probably in a cinema near you.