Do your ears perk up when you hear the words true crime? The genre has become so popular that we no longer bat an eyelash at the dozens of serial killer biopics and podcasts that flood our media landscape. There is still a public infatuation with mystery. It’s just presented differently than the dusty Agatha Christie novels on your shelf.
Jump scares and outrageously gory scenes have always been en vogue, but they are so heavily fictionalized that the fear doesn’t stick with you. There’s a new genre, however, that I believe to be on the rise. It’s gut-wrenching and upsetting, mostly because it’s true and happening all around us.
On March 13th, Netflix released a new hit crime thriller titled Adolescence. Set in England, the four-part show follows a 13-year-old, Jamie Miller, who is accused of murdering a female classmate. It’s gripping, exceptionally well-acted, and resonates in a way that modern true crime simply can’t. The show departs from the fantastical, tackling topics including incel culture, the “manosphere,” and other gendered social issues that have risen in popularity and contribute to violent behavior, typically by young men towards women.
A UK study conducted in 2024 finds that those in Involuntary Celibates (or incel) online communities “forge a sense of identity around their perceived inability to form sexual or romantic relationships.” The study found that these people often struggle with mental health issues, view feminism as a primary enemy of their manhood, are more likely to justify violence, and so on. The “manosphere” is a sweeping and sinister online collective that promotes these ideals.
Adolescence has the potential to open up a conversation about the current lack of male role models, with narcissistic, misogynistic, violent influencers filling the void. Look at the news to see the current pathetic lineup of leaders, businessmen, and podcasters whose influence is nothing short of a calamity for young men searching for guidance. Adolescence is the wake-up call we all need in this vast online wilderness.
What struck me watching Adolescence is the accessibility of these online forums. Anyone can access Reddit or other online platforms where this rhetoric festers. Adolescence paints a painful picture of a young boy falling deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole while his parents think he is safe in his room. This is a realistic scenario that parents and young people alike must be aware of. The fluffy anti-cyberbullying lectures we received in middle school will no longer suffice as Adolescence introduces us to a more modern, alarming kind of online harassment. The internet can be a positive tool, but it’s simultaneously a minefield. We all need to be careful of where we step.
The most impressive and unexpected aspect of Adolescence is its cinematography. Each episode is about an hour and is filmed in one single shot. There are no breaks or time for the viewer or actor to take a breath, lending to the show’s intense verisimilitude. The tragedy unfolds in real-time, down to the minute. The audience follows the characters everywhere. Such a personal angle of life is provided that the people on screen resemble someone you may pass on the street or a long-time neighbor. We, the audience, are voyeurs shamelessly eyeing a family’s catastrophe.
The creators and directors of Adolescence describe the show as a “whydunnit” rather than a classic “whodunnit.” This change of delivery urges viewers to reckon with our choice to let the online world bleed into reality. The entire premise is maddening because it’s an interlocking crisis of gendered hierarchy, mental health, self-esteem, and lived experience, seemingly impossible to untangle. By the time we parse it out, hidden ideology gives way to drastic real-life action, as Adolescence warns.
It’s rare that a show so poignantly addresses online culture in a way that doesn’t make you want to roll your eyes. This is the first show in a while that I can see actually starting a conversation on the links between mental health, violence, misogyny, and the internet.
Adolescence does not provide an answer to this complex social geography we find ourselves navigating. Instead, it’s a shock to the nervous system. A wake-up call to a distant nightmare that can and will become reality if we do not pay attention. The show will leave you with a voice in the back of your head saying this is real life, incessantly whispering, “Something wicked this way comes.”
