Netflix's one-shot miniseries Adolescence has just debuted on the streamer, opening to a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score.
Co-created by Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne, the series follows 13-year-old Jamie Miller (played by newcomer Owen Cooper) as he's accused of the murder of a girl at his school.
Starring Graham as Jamie's dad Eddie and Top Boy's Ashley Walters as DI Luke Bascombe, the series has earned rave reviews and currently sits at a 100% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Related: Stephen Graham's new Netflix crime drama stopped Top Boy star from quitting acting
The four-part drama — with each episode filmed in a long take style by Boiling Point director Philip Barantini — investigates the shattering consequences of a heinous crime, providing tough but necessary insights into gender-based violence.
As more reviews are coming in, let's have a look at what critics are saying about Adolescence.
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Digital Spy
"The very best drama has the power to irrevocably move you and spark conversation, and Adolescence does both."
Rolling Stone
"This is not an easy watch... But in what Adolescence has to say, and in how eloquently and audaciously it says it, it’s also among the very best things – and an early contender for the best thing – you will see on the small screen this year."
The New York Times
"It uses its pain and shock as a side door into interesting questions and social critiques. It’s about a teen, but its ideas are adult."
London Evening Standard
"Putting aside the technical skill involved in making a show like this (which is surely titanic), everybody in this series is wonderful."
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The Daily Telegraph
"It is a drama so quietly devastating that I won't forget it for a very long time."
Collider
"Adolescence isn't just an entertaining series (though it is, in some warped way); it's one of the most important series I've seen in a long time."
The Hollywood Reporter
"Fortunately, the camerawork mostly complements both a plot with unsettling contemporary resonance and the human characters, played exceptionally well by the likes of Stephen Graham, Ashley Walters, Erin Doherty and spectacular newcomer Owen Cooper."
Wall Street Journal
"Adolescence is, at the center of its broken heart, an examination of tormented youth."
Adolescence is streaming on Netflix.
Reporter, Digital Spy
Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).
