'Adolescence' Is Difficult in Netflix's First Images

Netflix announced it had signed a deal with Stephen Graham for his next "real-time, continuous take" series not long after the streaming service picked up Boiling Point, the four-part series based on the pandemic hit film of the same name. It was part of a slew of announcements in the spring of 2024 for the planned upcoming series in 2025; the topline was Stephen Knight's House of Guinness, which tended to dominate the coverage. However, Graham's experimental real-time single-shot series, titled Adolescence, marked it as Netflix's next major prestige event.

Like Boiling Point, the series takes a generic formula familiar to viewers and gives it a fresh spin. It takes a formula usually reserved for crime thrillers and suspense series like Idris Elba's Hijack and applies it to more mundane (but still high-stress) situations. Using the formula for situations that aren't as life-threatening, like the busy hours of a kitchen in a high-end restaurant or, in this case, the arrest of a young man accused of killing a classmate, brings an immediacy to the character's responses and emotional roller coaster.

Graham has also assembled a roster of prestigious talent for the series, ensuring everyone can handle the pressure, even though the four-part Adolescence is shot more like a stage production than a television series.

Here's the series logline:

Adolescence tells the story of how a family’s world is turned upside down when 13-year-old Jamie Miller is arrested for the murder of a teenage girl who goes to his school. The four-part series is notable for each episode being shot in one continuous take as the action unfolds in real-time.

Graham, as always, stars in the series, playing Jamie’s father (referred to as an "appropriate adult"); Eddie Miller; Ashley Walters (Missing You) plays Detective Inspector Luke Bascombe, and Erin Doherty (The Crown) is Briony Ariston, the clinical psychologist assigned to Jamie’s case. The series marks the debut performance of Owen Cooper as the 13-year-old Jamie.

The supporting cast includes Faye Marsay (Game of Thrones), Christine Tremarco (The Responder), Mark Stanley (Happy Valley), Jo Hartley (Passenger), and newcomer Amélie Pease.

Adolescence is created and written by Graham with Jack Thorne (Joy) and reunites the star with director Philip Barantini (Boiling Point) and Jo Johnson producing. Barantini executive produces for It’s All Made Up Productions, Thorne for One Shoe Films, Graham with Hannah Walters for Matriarch Productions, Mark Herbert & Emily Feller with Peter Balm & Niall Shamma as Co-Executive Producers for Warp Films, and Brad Pitt, Jeremy Kleiner, Dede Gardner, Nina Wolarsky & Carina Sposato as co-executive producer for Plan B Entertainment.

Netflix has not announced a release date yet, but Adolescence is expected out in early 2025.