Rating: 9/10

A boy murders a girl. An investigator tries to find the reasoning behind it. A psychologist is tormented by the boy. A father doesn’t want to acknowledge his actions. 

“Adolescence” is as haunting as it can get. 

Created by Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne and directed by Phillip Barantini, known for “Boiling Point,” the limited series is centered around the knife stabbing of a 13-year-old girl, Katie, for which Katie’s classmate, Jamie — Owen Cooper — is arrested under suspicion of the murder.

Each of the four episodes is shot in a singular take, each happening in real time. 

The first episode chronicles the arrest of Jamie: the police barge into his house, arrest and hold him for questioning. This leads to the second episode where we follow primary inspector Luke Bascombe — Ashley Walters — to the school Jaime attended, questioning students about anything that might be relevant to the case. 

In the third episode, we meet Jamie again as psychologist Briony Ariston — Erin Doherty — is tasked with observing Jamie and trying to understand what he did. 

The last episode is from the point of view of Jamie’s dad, Eddie — Graham — as he tries to celebrate his birthday with the rest of his family while Jamie is still held for trial. 

Owen Cooper, where do I even start? 

One of the greatest child performances ever, dare I say one of the greatest performances in recent history. I was holding my breath, not because of the content of the story, but because I didn’t know what this character was going to do next. As terrified as everyone in the show was of him, I was too. 

In movies and television, we’re usually able to predict what will happen with a character. Familiar beats ring throughout different stories, allowing us to easily follow conventional story arcs. 

We aren’t able to do that here. 

Cooper is ingenious in how his character holds himself. Over the course of the show, we see him shift from being afraid and terrified for his life to unleashing full-blown manipulation on the female psychologist.  

The fact that this is his first performance ever shows we have an up-and-coming star, having already booked a role in Emerald Fennell’s upcoming “Wuthering Heights,” starring alongside Jacob Elordi, Margot Robbie and Hong Chau. 

The rest of the cast is also superb. Graham is touching as a father trying to understand his son and what he’s passed on to him, seeing if he should blame himself for these actions. Jamie’s mother and sister — Christine Tremarco and Amelie Pease — give great depth to this family and the trauma they have to deal with.

But I would be ashamed if I didn’t talk about the great direction by Barantini. 

One-takes are slowly making a comeback in film and television, and this series sets itself apart from the rest of the pack. You feel immense claustrophobia, adding to an overwhelming presence of dread. Think about how each episode of a show needs to not only be entertaining but also add development to the story and characters. Doing this without any cuts to each episode is a true feat. 

Honestly, though, this might be my only gripe. 

They accomplish the one-take feat a little too well. As messy as the show is, the production seems so clean and precise. I would’ve loved a little bit of grit to the shots, as it might have added more symbolism.    

However, audiences aren’t going to take away the preciseness of the composition after they finish watching. Its call to action will stick with them long after the credits roll.

What epitomizes the horror of this series is that we know people like this. No, most of us probably don’t know murderers, while that might be a possibility. 

The unfortunate reality is that I’ve heard misogynistic speech from young men in my life. This way of thinking has become so prominent that it dictates how we see women. 

In the show, Jamie treats his father much differently than his mother or sister. Jamie asks him to be his appropriate adult during his arrest, not his mother. When he calls his father and realizes that his mother and sister are in the car, he switches up and becomes hesitant to talk. 

Jamie only trusts his dad because he sees women as lesser than him. Sadly, this is a viewpoint echoed across social media, as young boys fall prey to this dangerous way of thinking. 

The show serves as a reminder to all men of the dangers of the “incel” community and toxic masculinity. I pray every day that my younger brother and male friends don’t let these ideologies infiltrate their minds. But we don’t know what happens behind closed doors, as Eddie echoes in the show. 

I think I’m a pretty good older brother, but ultimately, I’ll never know what my younger brother is watching and digesting in his free time. Jaime’s parents weren’t able to recognize their own son because of his actions. But the fact that they weren’t able to stop him even though they lived in the same house is troubling. 

Young men are trying to tear down this series on social media, but I ask you: What will you do? After you’re done watching, will you get up, make some coffee and continue with the rest of your day like nothing happened? Or will you take into consideration the ideas being brought to light? 

Do with it what you will. But, “Adolescence” is going to be a prime reminder in popular culture of what can happen when we don’t look after those who are most vulnerable to these thoughts. 

Joshua Abraham is a kinesiology junior and opinion writer for The Battalion.