Like many others, I watched the viral British programme, glued to the screen until the very end. Before that, I hadn’t given the Netflix poster much attention—only when a renowned journalist from my motherland wrote a page-long Facebook post about it did I decide to watch it that very night.

To be honest, it felt as if the depiction of the 13-year-old’s abhorrent act against his female classmate was only half of what the screenwriters intended to convey to the audience. The other half zooms in on Jamie’s generation and attempts to analyze its ‘software’—to better understand its behavioral patterns. Unlike previous generations, this one grew up entirely with smartphones and unrestricted access to the digital world, which likely exposed them to the internet’s darker side.

In comparison to Jamie’s, my generation grew up when the internet and computers weren’t widely accessible. As kids, we still preferred playing outside with our neighborhood friends until night fell and our parents called us back home. My first phone was an old Nokia with buttons, which I used solely to call my parents after school. Gradually, newer phone models came out, and we were excited to play the games available on them. But my generation had the privilege of socializing in the real world—staying in your bedroom felt more like confinement.

By the time I left school, strange things were already happening with some of the younger pupils, but I never gave it much thought. One day, an 11-year-old boy brought his father’s pneumatic gun to school and injured a classmate in the hand. Nothing significant happened to him, and the ‘incident’ was slowly forgotten. 

Back to the movie—the image of a disorganized, disobedient classroom was personally hard to digest. Once again, I thought about my teachers and the helplessness they feel in their jobs on a daily basis. Some of them are quite old and have incredible life stories to share. It’s a pity to think that their job has gradually shifted from teaching to merely maintaining order—in classrooms where authority is constantly questioned.

Last but not least, what you truly feel when watching Adolescence (2025) is shock, as you are confronted with the realization of an almost lost generation. Lost, because escaping that spiral is nearly impossible—we, as adults, know how hard it is to break free from our own bubbles.

Image credits: Netflix Media Center