This article was published on 3/12 and republished in 3/13.
Netflix has been on a pretty decent run lately with its original shows, and that seems like it’s about to continue with a new series that as of right now, has racked up a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics.
The show is Adolescence, out on Thursday, March 13. It’s a limited series British crime drama, those are always good, that follows a harrowing story. Here’s the synopsis:
“A family’s world turns upside down when 13-year-old Jamie Miller is arrested for murdering a schoolmate: the charges against their son force them to confront every parent’s worst nightmare.”
That is, indeed, every parent’s worst nightmare, and as the father of a son, this may be tough to watch. But hey, perfect scores, I’m going to want to check it out regardless.
The series is from Jack Thorne, who did Toxic Town, which is, amazingly, another 100% rated drama on Netflix that just came out within the last month. The other creator here is Stephen Graham, who you may recognize in a lot of things as an actor. I know him best as Al Capone on Boardwalk Empire. He was also in The Irishman, Boiling Point and the last two Venom movies. The director is Philip Barantini, who directed Graham in Boiling Point in 2021.
Like Boiling Point, a hook of Adolescence is that each of its four episodes (these British shows sure are short) will be one long continuous shot, which is something we almost never see in a TV series.
Graham is indeed acting in the show as well, and there’s one interesting cast member, Fay Marsay, who played The Waif in Game of Thrones. I had to look up who that was, but it was the Faceless Man devotee who attacks Arya Stark, and unlike many smaller-part cast members, ends up surviving the series.
You may not always trust what critics say, but when shows arrive and have 100% ratings, they’re almost always worth watching. Especially in this case, where Jack Thorne’s other project released in the past month has an identical score. The series goes live on Thursday, March 13 on Netflix, and while it may not exactly dominate the top 10 list with a niche focus and just four episodes, it’s clearly going to be one worth watching, and I can’t wait to see it for myself, tough subject matter aside.
Update (3/13): Since I published this, I have heard a lot of people say that this sounds similar to a few other shows, one would be Defending Jacob on Apple TV+, which was based on a 2012 novel, not like Adolescence. Here’s the synopsis of that show, which starred Chris Evans and Michelle Dockery:
“Assistant District Attorney Andy Barber and his wife Laurie deal with the accusation that their 14-year-old son Jacob may be a murderer.”
The, the second show was another big hit on Netflix, Your Honor, starring Bryan Cranston, albeit this wasn’t so much about a murder as…manslaughter, but kind of similar:
“Michael Desiato is a prominent and respected New Orleans judge. When his teenage son Adam kills another teenager in an accidental hit-and-run collision, Michael encourages his son to turn himself in, but quickly changes his mind.
I suppose this is not the most new concept, but Adolesence is better reviewed than either of these, so it may be the best-rendered version of the idea. I’m about to watch and will report back after I do.
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