'Adolescence' is a British crime drama television series released on Netflix in March 2025. The series follows the story of Jamie Miller, a 13-year-old boy who is arrested on suspicion of murdering his classmate Katie Leonard.
Rather than focusing solely on Jamie’s guilt, the series explores the deeper causes behind his behavior, highlighting the influence of social media and online subcultures on vulnerable young people.
Adolescence’s camerawork is unique in that each episode is filmed in one long, uninterrupted take. This means that there are no visible cuts, giving the viewer the feeling of experiencing everything in real time. This technique heightens the tension and realism of the series, as the viewer feels as if they are directly present at the events.
Each episode was recorded over 5 days, with the episode being recorded twice on each day. The plan was to record 10 versions of each episode, from which the best version would be chosen. Because some recordings failed (a mistake is easily made), more than 10 recordings were made of each episode. So there was no cutting, the episode you see on Netflix was actually recorded in 1 take.
The actors had to learn huge chunks of text by heart in order to be able to record an entire episode in 1 shot, but they managed to do that through a lot of rehearsal.
Every now and then someone from the crew walks through the picture, which was not always avoidable. This crew member was then dressed as an extra.
The director is Philip Barantini, with leading roles for Stephen Graham as Eddie Miller, Owen Cooper as Jamie Miller and Erin Doherty as Briony Ariston.
More information at: TMDB
