‘Adolescence’ receives rare 100% rating: Critics rave about Netflix’s ‘quietly devastating,’ ‘astounding,’ ‘must-watch’ limited series
Emmy voters, take note: We have a serious contender in the limited-series race.
Netflix's Adolescence just debuted, and the reviews are nothing short of a unanimous rave. Boasting a rare score of 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, Adolescence has critics are tripping over themselves to find superlatives: "astounding," "dazzling," "audacious," "devastating," "powerful," "eloquent," "exceptional." You get the idea.
The four-part miniseries (co-created by Stephen Graham, who also stars) follows a 13-year-old boy, Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper), who is accused of murdering a classmate, through the year-long process as the case unfolds. Each hour-long episode is a single take, tracking Jamie's path through the legal system as he's arrested, interrogated, and treated by a child psychologist — examining the fallout on Jamie and his family (Graham plays Jamie's father).
There's a risk that that the single-shot, one-take "gimmick" of Adolescence could "come across as both routine and ostentatious," writes Rolling Stone's Alan Sepinwall. But "the device here is nothing less than astonishing — and for that matter, essential to why the show works as powerfully as it does." The filmmaking style, he writes, doesn't call attention to itself, but instead contributes to the impact of the storytelling: "It's there to trap viewers inside the same nightmare that the Millers find themselves in as they begin to contemplate the idea that baby-faced Jamie might have committed a monstrous crime." Sepinwall singles out the third episode — which focuses on a face-off between Jamie and his court-appointed psychologist (Erin Doherty — as the "most soul-shaking hours of television I can recall in some time." That Graham and Doherty's performances are so effective isn't surprising, he says, given their resumes, but as for Cooper, who is making his screen debut, "What a find." It all adds up to "among the very best things, and an early contender for the best thing, you will see on the small screen this year."
Robert Lloyd, writing for the Los Angeles Times, agrees that the one-shot approach runs the risk of being too self-conscious, but echoes its impact. "Long, uninterrupted scenes also allow a superb cast to dive into character and the moment, a luxury piecemeal film production doesn’t afford," he says. "At times, this can become a little theatrical... but more often it supports rather than subverts the reality." For a series inspired by real-world events, "the sort of material that might invite sensationalism or prompt a heavy-handed lecture, Adolescence avoids both."
The Hollywood Reporter's Daniel Fienberg also praises the series for delivering beyond its conceit. "Sure, the production process behind Adolescence is impressive — if not 'unique' — and occasionally astonishing, but if the aesthetic had upstaged the narrative, the resulting series would have amounted to little more than a stunt," he says. "Fortunately, the camerawork mostly complements both a plot with unsettling contemporary resonance and the human characters, played exceptionally well."
The comparison to last year's Baby Reindeer will be inevitable, says Variety's Aramide Tinubu, who calls the series "gutting, raw and stunningly acted." Tinubu, too, singles out the third episode for its "breathtaking" acting, as Jamie and his therapist face off under ever more intense questioning. "Dark and brilliantly written, this show unpacks the complexities of humanity and manhood and how the rise of the manosphere has so eerily and quickly permeated itself into the lives of young people through social media."
Adolescence is currently available for streaming on Netflix.