There are a few things that look set to make Adolescence one of 2025’s most talked-about new shows – namely, its unsettling subject matter and the incredible performances from its predominantly British cast.
But there’s one other factor that sets Adolescence apart, too.
Much like another of Stephen Graham’s recent hits, the 2021 film Boiling Point, each episode of the chilling Netflix crime drama is filmed in one continuous shot, giving the whole show a relentless, claustrophobic feel.
And if you were wondering – no, there’s no trickery at play here. Every episode really was one filmed in one long shot which, as you can imagine, required some imaginative thinking from Adolescence’s creative team.
“Basically, that means we press record on the camera and we don’t press stop until the very end of the hour,” director Philip Barantini told Netflix. “But it’s much more complicated than it sounds.
“It takes months of preparation and weeks of rehearsals and an incredible team of people to pull it off at every stage, from the script to the locations to the production design to where exactly the camera is going to be able to shoot and from what angle.”
So, how exactly did Adolescence pull off that impressive one-shot technique on all four episodes?
Because of the show’s unique filming style, months of meticulous planning went into making sure everything the team wanted to include would be achievable in a one-take style.
“A really fun day was working out how long the car ride takes from the house to the police station and walking that route,” co-writer Jack Thorne recalled to Deadline of just how fine the details had to be.
Barantini previously helmed Boiling Point, so he was no stranger to using long singular shots as a device.
However, where Boiling Point all took place under one roof, Adolescence was much more ambitious in its scale.
“The difference was we wrote Boiling Point with the location in mind so we would sit in a restaurant and write scripts,” he added. “This time it was all in Jack’s head then I’d have to go away and find these locations.”
According to the LA Times, the rehearsal process lasted three weeks for each episode.
First, the cast would rehearse on location for a full week, after which cameras would be incorporated to make sure everyone involved in the process knew where they needed to be at each moment.
After that, for the final week, the cast would film two long continuous takes a day over a five-day period, resulting in 10 takes for each episode.
Thorne would also need to be on-hand in the event that the planned dialogue or other details included in the original script didn’t quite work in the one-take style depicted on screen.
What challenges were there to overcome when doing each episode of Adolescence in one shot?
Well, it required cinematographer Matt Lewis and camera operator Lee David Brown to work closely together throughout the shoot (Stephen Graham compared their collaboration to a “ballet” to the LA Times), often passing the camera between them mid-scene to get everything right.
Of that gripping opening scene, Barantini told The Guardian: “When the episode starts, my cinematographer Matt is holding the camera. As we’re filming the actors in the car, the camera’s being attached to a crane. The car drives off, and the crane follows.
“While this is happening, Matt has gone in another car, driven ahead and jumped out so he can take the camera into the house. When we come back out of the house, the other camera operator Lee is sat in the custody van.
“Matt would pass Lee the camera, so now Lee’s got the camera while Matt drives ahead to the police station, so he’s ready to take the camera when we go inside.”
Thorne also told Deadline: “The cinematographers thought a chase scene I had written would look like a computer game and instead I got this call from Phil who said, ‘Imagine if the cameras could fly’.
“So, we strapped a camera to a drone that took off over traffic lights and then suddenly you’re at the murder scene. Emotionally it kicks you in the stomach.”
Impressive stuff, right?
The question is… why on earth would the Adolescence team want to put themselves through such an arduous filming experience in the first place?
For Barantini, he said the one-shot device means viewers are more likely to be hooked by what’s going on onscreen.
“What the one-shot does is makes you sit up and you can’t take your eyes off it, because if you do blink for a second you miss something. It draws the audience in,” he told Radio Times.
“It’s like going to a play. If you go to a play, you can’t be on your phone, yeah? And so you’ve got to pay attention to everything.”
Similarly, Thorne told Deadline: “The camera doesn’t blink in this show and by being unblinking it allows for a certain rawness and honesty.
“The inability to cut away, the idea that all four episodes are partial, that allows you to tell a more complex story than if we were able to be inside the justice system.”
He added: “What has resulted is a piece that uses the technical to unlock the emotional.”
All four episodes of Adolescence are available to stream now on Netflix.