Adolescence has been a huge hit for Netflix, drawing in 24.3 million views in its first four days on the streaming site.
Each episode of the gripping drama, which stars big names like Stephen Graham, Ashley Walters and newcomer Owen Cooper, is shot in a single, continuous take (and yes, that did lead to some pretty costly mistakes while filming).
If you’ve managed to work your way through the series’ four tense episodes already, though, there’s another critically-acclaimed project starring Stephen Graham that might be of interest to you.
Back in 2021, Stephen starred in the white-knuckle, single-take drama Boiling Point, which shares several parallels with Adolescence.
The film – which holds an enviable 99% score from critics on the review site Rotten Tomatoes, and which is available to stream on Channel 4 in the UK – focuses on a single high-stakes, fast-paced night in a London restaurant.
As well as critical acclaim, it was nominated for 16 Baftas in 2022, including a Best Actor nod for Stephen, winning nine in total.
The following year, it also spawned a spin-off series of the same name, each episode of which was also filmed in one long take.
Boiling Point was directed by Philip Barantini, who also helmed and executive-produced each episode of Adolescence.
That’s likely why the two productions share the pressure-cooker appeal that’s hooked so many Netflix viewers on the series.
Speaking to The Standard, Barantini said: “It was Jeremy Kleiner from [production company] Plan B who suggested a TV show shot in one take to me and Stephen. This was just after Boiling Point was released.
“And my response was, ‘Really, do that all again?’”
He added: “But then I thought it could be quite interesting to do [Adolescence] in four episodes. They originally wanted eight episodes but I was like, absolutely not, that’s just being a glutton for punishment.”
Barantini also revealed that the one-take shoots were so intense, the crew decided to film the behind-the-scenes breakdown of how it all worked alongside shooting Adolescence’s episodes.
“I think there’s a plan to show that at some point so people can see how mad we were,” the director shared – so hopefully, you’ll have something to watch after finishing both Adolescence and Boiling Point.