Adolescence – on Netflix
Everyone is talking about it, and for good reason. This brilliantly produced four-part Netflix drama is filmed in one continuous shot per episode. It’s like watching a theatre play up close – an experience that adds deeper intensity to the storytelling.
The acting is simply superb, making it emotional viewing – unnerving to watch at times, and heartbreaking the next minute. Owen Cooper, who plays 13-year-old Jamie Miller accused of murder, is astonishingly talented, delivering a performance that is both chilling and poignant.
Audiences are drawn in by the emotionally charged script, which is both raw and deeply insightful. It becomes even more powerful if, like me, you have a teenage boy at home.
The series serves as a wake-up call for parents, confronting us with uncomfortable truths. Do we really know what our children are watching online? And how these influences shape their thoughts and identities?
There’s so much to unpack here, from the toxic masculinity that seeps online spaces to the hidden meanings behind emojis used by young people. The show dives into issues like misogynistic influences and the dangers lurking in seemingly innocent digital environments.
The journey of Jamie’s parents is heartbreaking. They are a loving hard working couple – she’s a devoted mother, and he’s a good father. But the gut-wrenching pain and overwhelming guilt they feel as they wonder if they could have done better, is devastating to watch. Any parent will feel the immense sorrow of Eddie, Jamie’s father (played by Stephen Graham), in a hauntingly emotional scene at the end.
They bought him a computer. Isn’t that what all the kids are doing? They thought he was safe at home.
“He never left his room. He’d come home, slam the door, straight up the stairs on the computer”
“We couldn’t do nothing about that. All kids are like that these days, aren’t they? You don’t know what they’re watching in their room. You can’t keep an eye on them all the time, love. We just can’t”
“It’s not our fault. We can’t blame ourselves”
“But we made him, didn’t we?”
“But he was in his room, weren’t he? We thought he was safe, didn’t we? What harm can he do in there? I thought we were doing the right thing.”
I’ve seen comments on social media righteously saying how the parents seemed to be ok about their son roaming the streets at 10.30pm at night, but they would never allow their own kids to do this. As if to say this could never happen to us. Well, just remember that it’s not a new thing for kids to sneak out of the house at night. I happen to know parents who have no idea their kids have done this. In fact kids have been sneaking out at night since the days of Romeo & Juliet. These days though, we need to be worried about what’s happening on screens in the perceived ‘safety’ of bedrooms.
This is important viewing for any parent, whether you have teens or little ones, who as you know, will become teens. Basically if your kid has a phone, you need to be aware of all of these things that can impact them. The prevalence of social media bullying, sextortion, the high rate of suicide amongst young people, and increase in mental health issues, is something we all need to be concerned about. And please don’t think that your kids aren’t affected because you think you know them well. Learn as much as you can. Have conversations with your kids. Monitor what they’re doing. These are all the things parenting experts tell us. Dr Justin Coulson talks more about what we can learn from the show and why it’s so important that we as parents need to be involved. Read his take on the show here
Being only 4 episodes makes it easier to digest – you don’t need to commit to hours and hours of a long series to watch it. Adolescence might just be one of the most important pieces of work to come out of Netflix. It will leave its mark on our thoughts for a long time.
We’ll discuss it on our socials. Please let us know what you think.
You can subscribe to Netflix here
As per all our Play & Go reviews, this is not a sponsored post and our review is done completely independently.
At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.
Image Source: Netflix
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