“Adolescence” on Netflix is a gripping British crime drama that explores the intricate realities of early adulthood. This show was released on March 13th 2025 from Netflix by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham. The show revolves around 13-year-old Jamie Miller, who’s accused of murdering a schoolgirl, Katie Leonard. As the investigation unfolds, Jamie’s family, particularly his father Eddie, is left reeling, trying to understand how their son could be capable of such violence. The series dives into hard-hitting topics like toxic masculinity, online radicalization, cyberbullying, while revealing the psychology behind a teen murderer.
When Jamie first got arrested and taken to the police station he constantly repeated “I didn’t do anything wrong” not stating “I didn’t kill anyone” suggesting that Jamie doesn’t feel like what he did was wrong. Jamie stated that he was better than the other boys at his school because after killing Katie he didn’t sexualize her after possibly suggesting why Jamie feels as if he did nothing wrong.
This show highlights the effects of not expressing one’s mental state in a home and how sometimes it is not good for parents to hide their emotions. In the final episode when the mom arrives back at the house she hangs her coat and bag and begins to break down crying after thinking about her son Jamie she then composes herself and goes upstairs to tend to her husband. Then the dad broke down in his son’s room isolated from the rest of his wife and daughter. Portraying to their kids that it’s okay to hide your emotions, possibly causing them to feel trapped or misunderstood.
In the scene when Jamie was getting interviewed about the murder and the detectives showed the video of Jamie repeatedly stabbing the young girl his dad who was next to him turned away, which is exactly what Jamie described happened when he made a mistake playing football when he was younger. The dad never acknowledged his emotions to begin with. It is important for men to have uncomfortable conversations with their children about their mental health.
When being questioned the detective asked Jamie what was his favorite subject in school and he answered history and at the school the history teacher said Jamie doesn’t care about the lessons or the kids. Or maybe is it that Jamie’s interest for the subject is getting lost due to teachers being overworked and stressed, losing their passion and resulting in the kids losing theirs as well. Jamie’s parents also stated that Jamie was good at art but stopped because his dad put him in sports illustrating his parents never truly nurtured towards his passions. When it comes to neglecting a child’s passion can significantly decrease their self esteem because it can cause the child to feel unheard, unvalued or even anger potentially damaging their mental health.
The show highlighted Jamie’s age by him being afraid of needles when getting blood drawn from the doctor and him not knowing which finger was his ring finger. Revealing that despite all this happening to Jamie he is still a young boy, trying to understand everything that’s happened.
