A frightening commentary on the manosphere – a social media epidemic, Adolescence is an intense, four-episode gut punch that will leave you haunted and irritably helpless. This might be the most important Netflix project to come out in a long time, and everyone needs to go watch it.

Image Credit: dole777 from Unsplash

Jamie Miller, a 13-year-old, is accused of murdering his friend, Katie Leonard. It’s pretty obvious from the get-go that the accusation holds a weighted truth. The question is, what possibly could urge a 13-year-old who is barely a teenager to stab a girl to her death?

The show dares to explore the terrifying realities of toxic masculinity, online radicalization, and the warped ideologies influencing young minds. Finally, a series that doesn’t hesitate to trash the name of Andrew Tate – a woman’s worst nightmare, and exposes the dangers of red-pill culture while leaving room for parents to do their own research, to sit with the unease, to realize what their children are watching on their screens.

Every episode, filmed in a single take (which is an extraordinary feat with flawless execution), adds to the suffocating horror of watching a child unravel in real-time, compelling us to sit in the claustrophobia of the moment, unable to look away. Because this is real. This show is inspired by real events.

This is happening right now in the world we inhabit. What is the cure?

Owen Cooper (Jamie Miller) delivers a debut performance so unnerving, it’s impossible to believe this is his first project. He swings between terrified child and manipulative, enraged aggressor with unsettling ease. And as always, Stephen Graham – both creator of the show and Jamie’s father on-screen – outdoes himself yet again.

One of the most haunting aspects that stuck with me is how the aftershock of Jamie’s crime completely crumbles his family. We made her just like we made him, his parents claim, thinking they raised their son and daughter the same. Still, we watch Jamie’s mother constantly gauge her husband’s temper, a survival instinct their daughter has unconsciously inherited. And Jamie, in turn, mirrors his father, switching between yelling and apologizing, wielding control in the only way he knows how.

The series is able to induce chills that rattle my spine when, in Episode 3, discussing his crime, Jamie utters:

“I could have touched her. But I didn’t. Most boys would. So that makes me better.”

The disgust on the psychologist’s face was nothing compared to mine. The idea that a boy believes he is good because he didn’t sexually assault a girl after stabbing her to death is – I have no words. None.

And yet, it’s not fiction. This is how boys are thinking. This is what they are learning.

Image Credit: cottonbro studio from Pexels

Jamie justifies his crime using words like [censored] and [censored] for his victim. He repeats, Katie is flat, as if that somehow absolves him of murder. In his twisted mind, her “impurity” is reason enough to take her life.

Because she sent nudes. Because she rejected him. Because she bullied him. He had the power to kill her. But this is not where his understanding of female dynamics ends. We see Jamie yell at the psychologist frequently because he believes that, since she is a woman, she has no right to tell him what to do.

The entire third episode is legendary television – an unfiltered deep dive into an infected teenage mind, exposing how young boys are being shaped by the worst corners of the internet. This wave of incels and misogynists isn’t just alarming – it’s a crisis. Feminism is under attack while men freely hate on women.

There are online discussions questioning whether women should be allowed to vote. It’s being preached that if your girlfriend or wife isn’t scared that you could hit her at any moment, you’re doing something wrong.

The Depth of the Grave We Are Digging

The new generation of men is being taught how to carefully exert power over women. That patriarchy is the natural order. That violence and rage are a man’s right. Misogyny is literally killing women, while men cry about misandry hurting their feelings.

Adolescence takes on a communal rot we can no longer afford to ignore. And I’m glad Netflix had the guts to take it on. This absolute marvel of a series needs more watches, more conversations, and more urgency.

Because what’s happening? It’s terrifying. And it’s real. It has happened. And it will happen again.

We, as a society, need to pause and sit with this for a while and think – if a 13 year old can think he is better than the other boys because he did not rape his victim after murdering her in cold blood – where are we headed?