Ok, so if like half of the rest of the globe, you watched Adolescence in the last week or two, and now, you’re A) kind of – or a lot – terrified for your childen and B) looking for something else incredible to watch once you’ve calmed down, we’ve got you. Personally, I think after watching Adolescence we should all just pour ourselves a cup of tea, have a chat with our kids and then watch videos of baby goats in pyjamas. But, when you’re ready for your next big watch – we’ve got the 5 next-best things to Adolescence.
Whether you’re looking for a new TV recommendation, what to read next, or what to line-up next in your podcast queue, we’ve got you covered, with our new entertainment series, ‘So You’re a Fan Of’. We’ll be working our way through new or popular TV shows, movies, books/authors and podcasts and will then match-make you with other suggestions for you to try!
If you haven’t watched it yet, I highly recommend you stop reading here and go turn on Netflix to watch Adolescence. It’s a British four-part series that is simply incredible – and utterly devastating. It is incredibly shot – each episode is just one shot (using some incredible tricks to make it feel that you’re on one camera shot the entire time). And, you don’t need to just take my rave reviews – it’s been critically acclaimed to a point where it has a 98% scoring based on 51 critic’s reviews. Plus, it has really racked up the viewers with it easily and quickly becoming Netflix’s biggest show of the year, within a day.
It starts with a dawn raid in an English town, where police break down the door of a very normal-seeming family home. The person they’re there to arrest is 13-year-old Jamie Miller (played by newcomer Owen Cooper) on suspicion of murdering his classmate. Surely they have the wrong person because this tiny, gormless young man does not seem capable of a murder charge. But by the end of the first episode the police present Jamie, his father and his appointed attorney with CTV footage from the night before of what appears to be Jamie, stabbing his 13-year-old female classmate, repeatedly.
Over the next four chilling episodes we learn more about Jamie, his classmates, his school, his family and what it is to be a young teenage boy today. The series delves into the topic of incel subculture in a bid to try to understand why so many more young teenage and pre-teen girls are being murdered by teenage boys – more increasingly by stabbings.
It’s a hard watch – with all of the actors giving truly incredible performances, and it exploring topics that will stay with you for some time. The creators hope it might start some more conversations and, it certainly is hard to watch and not feel a compulsion to immediately talk to your sons, and daughters.
Like I said in the info, it’s DARK. So take care of yourself watching this one. And, maybe watch something light as a follow-up? But, when you’re ready, there are a few shows that share a lot of similarities that you might enjoy watching next. Here’s my top five:
Defending Jacob
There are a truckload of similarities between Defending Jacob and Adolescence. It’s dark and covers some very similar material – but, it definitely isn’t as slick and masterful as Adolescence.
It stars Chris Evans (who is surprisingly good steering away from rom-com territory into suspenseful drama like this), Michelle Dockery (amazing as always) and Jaeden Martell (brilliant).
Essentially Chris Evans plays Andy, an Assistant District Attorney who is living a content suburban life with his wife Laurie and their 14-year-old son, Jacob. That is, until a classmate of Jacob is found stabbed to death in the park near their school (see, I told you this story had a lot of similarities!). Andy and a detective begin questioning students at the school without much luck. But then things take one hell of a turn in the very first episode when Andy finds a knife in Jacob’s room that fits the description of the murder weapon…
Watch it on: Apple TV
Boiling Point
This is a completely different concept, as it’s a feature length movie – but, what makes it veeeery similar to Adolescence is that it’s the same team behind it. If you thought a 50 minute TV episode, filmed entirely as one shot was impressive, try this one – a 90 minute film. Yip, it’s another beautifully shot, one-shot wonder. It also stars the incredible Stephen Graham who produced Adolescence in which he also starred as Jamie’s father.
The subject matter is entirely different, but, equally stressful and intense. It follows Stephen’s character Andy who is the owner and head chef of a new high-end London restaurant. It’s the kitchen’s opening night and Andy is set to lead his team of chefs, direct his front-of-house staff and entertain his high-profile guests all while dealing with mounting person problems.
Alongside the stress of the kitchen and staff we get a few glimpses into the lives of the customers – many who are equally troubled in their personal lives. It’s rich, incredible and definitely, definitely worth a watch if you enjoyed the way Adolescence was shot.
And, after the success of the film, there is also a BBC series which acts as a continuation of the film. It follows Andy as he recovers from a heart attack, while his former sous chef Carly (Vinette Robinson) is feeling the weight of responsibility as she heads up her own kitchen.
Watch the movie on: MĀORI+
Watch the series on: TVNZ+
Your Honour
One of the themes that really disturbed me as a parent watching Adolescence (besides the incel subculture terror!) was the thought of what you would do to protect your child if they were ever seriously in the wrong.
It’s a theme that’s much further explored in Your Honour, which I recommend only watching once your nerves are no longer feeling completely frayed from watching Adolescence, because this show is one heck of a suspenseful, stressful watch.
On the anniversary of his mother’s murder, teenager Adam is driving when he accidentally hits another teenage boy – who dies in his arms. In a panic, Adam flees the scene.
And here’s where it gets even worse. His father (Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston who is spectacular in this) is a prominent and respected New Orleans judge. He encourages Adam to turn himself in – until he realises who the dead boy is: the son of a mob kingpin. He quickly does a 180, fearing for Adam’s life if he is revealed to be the one who hit the boy. Can the pair keep the secret?!
It’s dark, suspenseful and well worth a watch – the first season is particularly good, but the second season is still incredible.
Watch it now on: Neon
The Night Of
The first time I watched this, as soon as I finished the last episode, I wanted to rewatch the whole thing over, but I thought it might be best to wait a while. Well, of course time is an insane thing, because this now came out nine years ago, so it’s ideal for a rewatch – or first-time watch if you missed it.
This show is daaaaark, with plenty of suspense, and a lot of the action happening inside a prison cell. It stars Nasir “Naz” Khan, a Pakistani-American college student who goes out partying with a female stranger and then wakes up to find her stabbed to death. He is immediately charged with her murder. But, just what the heck happened?
The Night Of follows the police investigation and legal proceedings following the murder. It’s very different to Adolescence in that the subject is not a boy and is certainly not well cared for in prison, but it has that same element of suspense and is very stressful and dark.
Watch it now on: Neon
Presumed Innocent
Presumed Innocent was one of Apple’s biggest hits of 2024 and while it’s very different to Adolescence, it does share some similarities.
It has a stellar cast (do you really need any more info to be sold on watching this other than Jake Gyllenhaal is the lead?), is beautifully shot and keeps you on the edge of your goddam seat each week.
It’s also very different in that the man in the centre of the action – who is charged with murder – is an adult, and a highly educated one at that.
The plot follows Jake’s character Rusty – a prosecutor, who is called with terrible news: one of his colleagues, a fellow prosecutor Carolyn, has been viciously murdered. Rusty begins investigating the case, but is soon pulled off the case when A) it is revealed that he was having an affair with Carolyn and B) he’s subsequently charged with her murder.
This is one of the most stressful shows I’ve watched, with every episode ending in some sort of cliffhanger or revelation that made me desperate for the next one. I also found myself desperate to get to the end to understand just what the heck had really happened. Did Rusty actually do it?
Watch it now on: Apple TV
