- Gripping new drama series Adolescence is now streaming on Netflix
- Stephen Graham stars alongside newcomer Owen Cooper
- Many people are wondering whether it’s based on a true story
New Stephen Graham series Adolescence has only just landed on Netflix but it’s already got people talking.
Its directed by Boiling Point’s Philip Barantini and written by Graham and his frequent collaborator Jack Thorne. Each band tell an unflinching crime drama following a young boy accused of killing one of his classmates.
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Like Boiling Point before it, Barantini takes a unique approach to his storytelling. Each episode unfolds in one long continuous shot. Across four-episodes, we watch in real-time as family and police try to make sense of what actually happened.
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The show brings viewers face-to-face with plenty of questions – one of which is whether Adolescence is based on a real story.
Here’s what we know.
What happens in the show?
New Netflix limited series Adolescence follows Jamie, an average 13-year-old schoolboy played by newcomer Owen Cooper. When one of his classmates is murdered, Jamie suddenly finds himself in the crosshairs, with his family and the local authorities forced to try to decipher what really happened.
As emotions run high, Jamie’s father Eddie, played by Graham, is faced with tough questions about his own son in what becomes an emotional rollercoaster.
Graham spoke to Netflix about the themes he wanted to touch upon, highlighting how he and Thorne wanted to make Adolescence as painfully relatable as possible.
“We could have made a drama about gangs and knife crime, or about a kid whose mother is an alcoholic or whose father is a violent abuser,” explained Graham.
“Instead, we wanted you to look at this family and think, ‘My God. This could be happening to us!’ And what’s happening here is an ordinary family’s worst nightmare.”
Is Netflix show Adolescence based on a true story?
Despite having a storyline that feels ripped from the headlines, Adolescence isn’t based on a real story or an actual case.
However, according to its creators, they certainly pulled from reality while creating such a grounded and gritty story about knife crime.
“There was an incident where a young boy [allegedly] stabbed a girl,” Graham told Netflix site Tudum in the lead up to the show’s release.
“It shocked me. I was thinking, ‘What’s going on? What’s happening in society where a boy stabs a girl to death? What’s the inciting incident here?’ And then it happened again, and it happened again, and it happened again.”
He added, “I really just wanted to shine a light on it, and ask, ‘Why is this happening today? What’s going on? How have we come to this?’”
