‘Adolescence’: Gritty Take on Juvenile Crime, But Where’s The Closure?
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
13-year-old Jamie Miller wets his pants when armed cops storm into his house early in the morning, to arrest the boy on suspicion of murdering a schoolmate. With clinching evidence stacked against him, those around him struggle to understand why the young boy did what he did.
Created by Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne, the 4-episode mini-series ‘Adolescence’ stars Owen Cooper as Jamie, the central protagonist of the tale, the 13-year-old suspected of brutally stabbing a girl to death. Jamie’s parents Eddie Miller (Stephen Graham) and Manda Miller (Christine Tremarco) are stunned with his arrest, convinced the cops have ‘the wrong person’. But DI Luke Bascombe (Ashley Walters) is very confident in their call, indicating the detectives had concrete proof against the juvenile offender.
Divided into four chapters, sharp viewers would notice by the first episode that each episode of ‘Adolescence’ is shot in one long take. This not only lends the series a dynamic theatrical atmosphere, it also adds an edgy tempo to the tale, like the viewer is right behind the camera, with a front-seat view to the events unfolding in the story. The first episode is the most tense, which begins with a very mundane conversation between two cops about apples, then changes gear to track armed cops breaking into the Miller home to arrest Jamie Miller. There’s panic, confusion, fear, and the viewers along with the Millers slowly learn what the case is all about.
So, while the first episode largely takes place at the building where Jamie is held, and questioned, the second episode takes place at Jamie’s school, where DI Luke Bascombe and colleague Misha Frank (Faye Marsay) arrive to question students and find out the motive for Jamie’s crime. It’s at school where the adult detectives learn just how different the world of adolescents and teens is. Cryptic emojis, unfamiliar slang, code-words, it’s like a completely different dimension of communication.
Among the cast, you’ll instantly begin rooting for DI Luke to crack the case and figure out the true motive behind the teen girl’s murder, but guess what? He doesn’t even appear in the show in the second half. Which is fine, because ‘Adolescence’ turns to Jamie’s psyche in the third episode, introducing Erin Doherty as Briony Ariston, a mental health professional hired by the state to evaluate Jamie. It’s in this episode that Owen Cooper stands out as the hard to decipher teen, first introduced as a weepy mess, solemnly swearing his innocence, but in his interactions with Briony, he reveals shades of darker, more adult-like behavior, one which unsettles even the mental health professional.
The climactic episode tracks a day in the life of the Miller family, who struggle to maintain a ‘normal’ life after their son’s arrest. Amelie Pease plays Jamie’s older sister Lisa Miller, who stands by her parents like a rock through the ups and downs they face. With the case still ongoing, the parents introspect and wonder if they’re to blame for the violent crime – if their son really did murder the girl. “He was always in his room, on the computer,” they innocently tell themselves, as if a teen spending all his time on the internet is an indication that he is safe from the trappings of life.
Unfortunately, many parents who didn’t grow up with the internet fail to understand the fact that leaving your kid with active internet access isn’t the same as leaving them with a video game console and a cassette that has only 10 games. The worst thing the pre-internet child could do was crush some mushrooms, shoot some virtual ducks, or dream of becoming a circus manager. Concerns like cyberbullying, doxxing, and the constant comparison game fueled by likes and filters weren’t part of growing up. And that’s where Adolescence shines best – in subtly highlighting the dangerous effects of social media and the internet on children, something Bo Burnham explored equally well in Eighth Grade, albeit without the violent crime.
The only thing that left me feeling underwhelmed about ‘Adolescence‘ was the abrupt ending, which leaves viewers with several questions that the creators could’ve easily chosen to answer. It doesn’t give us closure – we never get to know what really happened on the night the girl was murdered, even though we’re given enough pieces of the puzzle to piece the story together ourselves. But sorry, I needed more closure, especially since this isn’t even based on a real-life case, although the creators were inspired by reality.
While ‘Adolescence‘ delivers a gripping take on juvenile crime, its sluggish pacing in certain portions may be a hurdle for some. And the ambiguous final chapter is likely to frustrate viewers who prefer clear, concrete endings.
Rating: 7 on 10. Watch ‘Adolescence’ on Netflix.
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