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Netflix loves nothing more than freaking us out with a semi-true crime story, doesn't it? Its latest offering, Adolescence, it particularly unsettling. The unnerving tale follows Jamie, a 13-year-old boy who is accused of murdering one of his classmates. The series is formed of four hour-long episodes each filmed in one long continuous shot.
As the Netflix description reads, “The gripping story unfolds in real time as the main characters — from the central family to the detectives investigating the crime — search for answers in the wake of a shocking tragedy. Who is actually responsible? Why did it happen? Could it have been prevented?”
The show was co-created by Joy writer Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham, who also stars as Eddie, Jamie's father. Newcomer Owen Cooper plays Jamie. "He just absolutely blew me away," director Philip Barantini said to Variety. “Actors train for years and years and still can’t really master what Owen has mastered, which is basically just being in the moment and listening and being truthful.” Ashley Walters (Top Boy) plays Detective Inspector Luke Bascombe, while The Crown's Erin Doherty stars as Briony, a clinical psychologist.
Many viewers of the show will leave wondering: is Adolescence based on a true story?
Is Adolescence based on a true story?
While Adolescence may not have been based on one specific story, it was undoubtedly inspired by a concerning cultural shift in the UK that has taken place over the last few years.
“There was an incident where a young boy [allegedly] stabbed a girl,” Graham said to Netflix's Tudum. “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. 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?’ ”
“This show is about having the conversation, whether it's with your kid, with your friend, with your auntie, with your therapist, whatever. Let's just talk.”
What inspired Adolescence?
As we know all too well, Jamie's story is far from impossible.
In fact, crimes and violence against women are on the rise alongside the the ever-growing threat of the “manosphere”.
Incel culture, misogyny and instances of image-based abuse are also on the rise. In the UK, 3,000 offences against women are recorded each day — it has been estimated that one in every 12 women has been a victim. Adolescence is one attempt to understand the complicated reasons why all of this is happening.
“One of our aims was to ask, ‘What is happening to our young men these days, and what are the pressures they face from their peers, from the internet, and from social media?’ ” Graham said. “And the pressures that come from all of those things are as difficult for kids here as they are the world over.”
He added: “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,” said Graham to Tudum. “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.”
In other words, Adolescence may not be inspired by one true story — even worse, it is inspired by many. And that really is haunting.
It spotlights the current crisis of masculinity and the epidemic of violence against women and girls.
Who is Adolescence based on?
Again, it's not based on one particular person or case. However, based on what both Graham and Thorne have said about their writing process, there are a few potential instances that may have been on their minds while they created the show.
“Where it came from, for me is there was an incident in Liverpool, a young girl, and she was stabbed to death by a young boy. I just thought, why?" Graham told Radio Times.
He is likely referring to the 2021 incident in which Ava White, a 12-year-old girl, was stabbed in Liverpool city centre by a 14-year-old boy after an alleged “Snapchat row."
Ava's mother, Leanne White, made a statement following the release of Adolescence. "It's got nothing to do with Ava whatsoever," she told BBC Radio Merseyside. “It makes me really angry as well that Ava's name keeps on getting put alongside — it's about the perpetrator, it's not about Ava.”
She did, however, praise the show. "By them highlighting all the dangers on social media and all the bad influencers like Andrew Tate... I think that's a really good thing for them to be highlighting," she said.
Graham also mentioned another case in the same Radio Times interview: “Then there was another young girl in south London who was stabbed to death at a bus stop. And there was this thing up North, where that young girl Brianna Ghey was lured into the park by two teenagers, and they stabbed her. I just thought, what’s going on? What is this that’s happening?”
Ghey was a 16-year-old trans girl who was killed in 2024 in broad daylight in a village park in Cheshire. Ghey's mother has recently been speaking out about the “horrors of the online world” after her daughter's murder. She features in a new ITV documentary, Brianna: A Mother’s Story, which airs 27 March on ITV1.
After her daughter, Brianna, was murdered by two fellow pupils, Esther Ghey became a campaigner for online safety.
