5 reasons Adolescence deserves a spot on your watchlist right now

Netflix’s Adolescence was released on March 13, 2025, and took the internet by storm as everybody couldn’t stop raving about the limited series. The four-episode series narrates the story of Owen Cooper’s Jamie Miller, a 13-year-old who is accused of murdering his classmate named Katie.

The series explores the broken parts of our society through the story of Jamie and his family. Using unique cinematography techniques to depict the current social issues such as toxic masculinity and sexism among teenage boys, Adolescence depicts a powerful narrative with a stellar cast who gave their best performances, making it one of the must-watch series of the year.

Here are 5 reasons why you should definitely watch Adolescence on Netflix.

Disclaimer: This entire article is based on the writer's opinion and contains spoilers. Reader discretion is advised.

5 reasons Adolescence deserves a spot on your watchlist right now

5) The one-shot technique made it more spectacular

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While the narrative was at its level best with a gripping tale, it was the technique used to film the series that grabbed everyone’s attention. Matthew Lewis, the cinematographer of Adolescence, revealed that each episode was shot in just one take. After extensive rehearsal, these episodes were filmed from start to end in just one shot, capturing even the minuscule expressions of the actors, which became the most important part of the series.

Moreover, filming a scene in a school shown in episode 2 of Adolescence and capturing so many students in one take would have been difficult, but the crew still did a spectacular job. While talking to Variety, Lewis talked about this scene and said:

"At the end of the school episode, we connected to a drone, which flew away, and we landed again at a car park. It was a last-minute request from the execs. We were originally going to take off and fly and stay up in the air, but they thought it would be a nice beat to go back and find Stephen Graham at the end of the scene, so we had a couple of days to work that out, but we got it."

The audiences were so fascinated by the technique that even Netflix had to jump into the narrative and reveal more about the process during a Q&A on X.

4) A raw look at social pressures faced by teens

Stephen Graham and Owen Cooper in Adolescence | Image via YouTube/Netflix

One of the most crucial reasons why everyone should watch Adolescence is the depiction of society in it. Through the story of Jamie Miller and Katie’s case, the Netflix series addressed the issues the teenagers of today are dealing with that the adults are mostly disconnected from. Whether it's the use of slang, emojis, or just plain online bullying, the environment that the children are living in is hidden from the adults but is still as troubling as it used to be, if not more.

Adolescence depicted this world of the teenagers where toxic masculinity, sexism, and hatred for women among teenage boys are thriving, which in hindsight might have caused a situation in which Katie became a victim. The story was not about Jamie and his family’s struggles alone; it held up a mirror to the society that we live in now.

3) The story wraps up in just four episodes

Stephen Graham in Adolescence | Image via YouTube/Netflix

As mentioned earlier, Adolescence is a limited series with just four episodes, with each running for just over 50 minutes. With the limited time and episodes, the Emmy-nominated Netflix series perfectly narrates the story of Jamie Miller. In the four episodes, we see Jamie depicting the fear of a young boy accused of murder, going on to show his more troubled side and later accepting his crime, without losing the essence of the show.

Aside from Jamie, even the character arcs of others, from his father, Eddie Miller, to DI Luke Bascombe, reached a proper conclusion, without needing to explore more. While it is one of those shows that you will wish were longer than just four episodes, the story did not need any more, and perhaps the need for more episodes might be one of the reasons making Adolescence more popular.

2) Thought-provoking storyline

Erin Doherty in Adolescence | Image via YouTube/Netflix

Adolescence depicts a story that brings the broken parts of the society to the fore, making it one of the fictional narratives that is too close to reality to be ignored. In the beginning of the series, the audience empathised with Jamie and his family as in everyone’s eyes, including his family’s, Jamie was innocent.

However, as the series progresses, we get to see Jamie’s troubled mindset with his interview with forensic psychologist Briony, played by Erin Doherty, making him appear terrifying and nothing like what we encountered in the beginning. This depicts how Jamie was able to get away with showing his outwardly normal self while hiding his hatred for women inside, causing him to commit the murder.

The series has since become a gateway for parents, teachers, and all the adults to show more attention to the teenagers and their behavior before it's too late. While it showed Jamie’s parents being clueless about how Jamie really is, to the detective who had access to all his social media but was unable to find any relevant data due to their limited knowledge about social media, making it a must-watch for parents, as it introduces a world of their children, undetected by them.

1) Owen Cooper’s performance

Owen Cooper in Adolescence | Image via YouTube/Netflix

The performance of the stellar cast of Adolescence makes it one of the best limited series of all time. However, it's the newcomer, Owen Cooper, playing Jamie Miller, who stunned everyone with his gripping performance. The scene in episode 1 when we see him with his father, Stephen Graham's Eddie, is one of the most heartbreaking scenes, but everything changes when we reach episode 3 and we see Jamie terrifying Doherty’s Briony with his anger issues.

One minute he is the most vulnerable character in the show, but in seconds he becomes the most terrifying, showing the versatility of the young actor in how he manages to depict the duality of Jamie’s nature in just seconds, and that too in a show using the one-shot technique.