You may have heard of a new show on Netflix called Adolescence. I’ve seen people all over social media raving about this hit show. If you want to know what all the hype is about and what the show means for society at large, then I’ve got you covered.
What Is Adolescence?
Adolescence is a psychological crime show on Netflix that was released about a month ago on March 13, 2025. It is a limited series with only four total episodes, and each episode was shot in only one take (so there are no pauses or clear cuts during each one).
The show is set in the United Kingdom and follows 13-year-old Jamie Miller, a boy who commits a horrible crime against one of his fellow classmates (a young girl named Katie), leaving her dead. The show immediately picks up with the police raiding the boy’s family’s home and takes off from there, following the police, Jamie’s family, and a few classmates throughout the series.
Viewers are shown the effects that committing crimes has not only on the victim but for society as a whole. It shows the effects on close friends, family, classmates, and the entire community. It deals with how the suspect’s family comes to terms with this crime that their youngest family member committed, and how it could have possibly come down to this situation. The show leaves audiences, and even its own characters, wondering why a young boy would do such a heinous act.
Connection To The Real World
So, as we know, the show follows Jamie after he kills a young girl. How does this connect to the real world? I’m sure everyone has seen and heard of the violence against women all over the world. No matter the city and no matter the country, women are being hurt by the men around them. And this series shows how society can impact boys and lead them to mistreat women.
The series dives into the concept of incel culture and the impact of online male influencers on young boys. Incel culture is defined as when a man is a “member of an online subculture of primarily heterosexual men who identify as being unable to have romantic or sexual relationships.” It plays a major role in the connection between Katie and Jamie and why he kills her. And as for the impact of male influencers, audiences will learn about how boys are pushed to be strong, demanding, and masculine, especially in today’s digital world. The show even mentions topics like male rage, and connects it to people like Andrew Tate, who is widely known for his misogynist ways of thinking.
On the topic of masculinity, the third episode really brings this into focus, as it sees Jamie being interviewed by a woman who is a psychologist. The show lets viewers know that the two characters have met before and have had a few sessions already. The conversation starts slowly, and they talk about things like family and anger before things take a turn. When the psychologist starts talking about masculinity, Jamie gets defensive—aggressive even. He starts to talk back, his tone gets harsh, and, at one point, he throws his drink across the room. Toward the end of the episode, he even gets in the psychologist’s face and jumps at her, which he later laughs about. He questions how she could fear him because, after all, he is just a 13-year-old boy.
Once she tells Jamie that this will be their last session together, he gets mad and starts yelling until he is dragged out of the room by a guard. As he is dragged away, he shouts, asking if she at least likes him as a person. This ties back to the idea that men need validation and hate rejection.
We then see the impact of what not monitoring your children can have on them from a young age. Jamie’s own parents grieve over their little boy and wonder about what they could have done better. The parents of Jamie must come to terms with the fact that, even with monitoring your kids, you can’t be there for them all the time — some things are simply out of your control as a parent. The series ends with the father putting Jamie’s childhood teddy bear to rest under his covers, leaving it behind with a kiss and essentially putting his child’s childhood and innocence to rest.
Conclusion
I believe that this show touches on important topics that every teen and adult should know. It handles toxic masculinity, misogyny, and the impact that social media has in a thought-provoking way. I believe that it is important for men to watch the show and learn about the impact they can have on other men and boys around them. I hope they can learn things about themselves, see how the world treats women, and strive to do better than that.