Netflix’s Adolescence, a “who-dun-it?” mini-series with four episodes shot in one take. The show centers around 13-year-old Jamie (Owen Cooper) and his family as they navigate his accusation and arrest for fatally stabbing his classmate, Katie.
On the surface, the story is about knife violence. But as the camera continues to roll, themes of misogyny, cyberbullying, male rage, and toxic masculinity begin to surface. Co-creator and starring actor, Stephen Graham, said the inspiration behind the series hit close to home. In 2021, 12-year-old Ava White was fatally stabbed by a 14-year-old boy in Graham’s home city of Liverpool. Two years later, 15-year-old Elianne Andam was attacked with a kitchen knife by 17-year-old Hassan Sentamu outside a Croydon shopping center. Thus, Adolescence was born. “It really hit my heart,” Graham said during the Netflix series’s premiere. “I just thought: ‘What’s happening? How have we come to this? What’s going on with our society?’”
In recognition of the importance of this topic, as well as the mind-whirring process of watching, here are five other series and movies that should be your next watch if you loved Adolescence.
Boiling Point
Starring Stephen Graham in another lead role as head chef Andy Jones, Boiling Point is another long continuous take in a very stressful environment: the kitchen of an upmarket restaurant. The film is thrilling as viewers see Jones navigate flaming pans and boiling pots.
Boiling Point is available to watch on Netflix.
Yellowjackets
Yellowjackets is a mind-boggling story of a girls’s soccer team stranded in the Canadian woods. Similar to Adolescence, viewers get some important details up front but then the question of “why” brings you through the series. Split into two timelines – one in the woods and the other of the girls as adults reflecting on what happened years later — themes of cannibalism are only one of the crimes you know the girls are guilty of, just like Jamie.
Yellowjackets is available to watch on Paramount +.
Glue (2014)
If you’re ready to dive back into heart-tugging storylines after watching Adolescence, Glue is a drama about the discovery of the body of a teenage boy found underneath the wheels of a tractor in a remote English village. This tale unearths disturbing secrets in an unassuming, quaint countryside town. Questions surrounding the other teenagers, their secrets, and those who covered it up bring in similar themes from Adolescence that will keep you hooked.
Glue is available to watch on Prime Video.
Baby Reindeer
Another disturbing Netflix UK mini-series that has gone on to win awards. Baby Reindeer centers around the obsessive and disturbing relationship between a flailing comedian, Donny Dunn (Richard Gadd, who also wrote and created the series), and Martha Scott (Jessica Gunning), who turns out to be a violent and dangerous stalker. Check the ratings on this one – you’re in for a mind-spinning ride.
Baby Reindeer is available to watch on Netflix.
Criminal: UK
Set completely in an interrogation room, Criminal: UK has two quick-to-binge seasons and is a show you have to stay focused on. The series centers around a specialized interrogation unit of the Metropolitan Police where various suspects are interviewed.
Criminal: UK is available to watch on Netflix.
Happy watching!