IN ONE SHOT

A technical masterpiece, Adolescence exposes the deepest and darkest corners of incel culture, male rage, masculinity, manosphere, teenage violence and social media ... one long shot at a time

- Apeksha Priyadarshini

I should’ve killed her, but I didn’t,” a flustered Jamie tells Briony Ariston, the clinical psychologist. Briony has just asked him if he ever called his classmate, Katie Leonard, out for calling him an “incel” on social media. “She’s a bitch, even you can see that,” he says, frustrated with attempts to make Briony believe his words.

He begins to say, “All I did ... all I did was...” and suddenly, his expression switches. From a shot of the two, the camera slowly zooms in on Jamie. His unnerved face breaks into a sneer. “Look at you. All hopeful like I’m going to say something important,” he says with an impish grin. He tells her about Katie rejecting his proposal for a date and asks, “You think she was a bitch, right? Doing all that?”

The camera slowly begins to move towards Briony. While Jamie goes on to recount what he did on the fateful night that Katie was murdered, the camera stays fixed on her face. Briony is pale and aghast, listening to this 13-year-old describe his intentions towards a fellow female classmate. “I could have touched any part of her body. I wanted to, but I didn’t. Most boys would've touched her. So that makes me better. Don’t you think?” he asks her.

Directed by Philip Barantini, Adolescence isa tale that explores the dilemmas of what lies within our control and without. In every issue it addresses—children’s exposure to misogyny, incel culture, parenting, schooling—the motif of control remains a constant.

The psychological confrontation between Briony and Jamie and the way their conversation unfolds is also dominated by this motif. At every juncture that Jamie feels threatened and vulnerable with Briony’s questions, he covers his emotions up with bouts of violent rage, mocking and attempting to physically intimidate her.