The Making of "Adolescence": Behind the Scenes of a Masterpiece
Adolescence has recently taken center stage in the UK’s national dialogue. The Prime Minister even mentioned it in parliament. Across the pond, it’s the most-watched Netflix series in the US this week. Besides its gripping storyline, there’s much buzz about its groundbreaking film techniques. Each of the four hour-long episodes was captured in a single take, requiring intricate planning and endless creativity from the production team.
Much has already been shared online in viral social media threads this week. Yet, when I interviewed the brains behind Adolescence last month, I unearthed several behind-the-scenes insights that I couldn’t share at the time due to space constraints or to preserve their dramatic effect. Here’s a sneak peek into some of those untold stories from my conversations.
It all started as a favor to a friend. Before hitting it big with Adolescence, there was Boiling Point, a similarly crafted one-take film featuring Stephen Graham and helmed by Philip Barantini. “That’s how the journey began,” Graham recounted. “Phil wanted to direct. I said, ‘Show me what you can do in your debut film, and if it’s impressive, we’ll discuss the next.’” Barantini rose to the challenge, and his experimental short evolved into Boiling Point. Graham added, “It just goes to show—you never know where a favor might lead.”
The show’s young lead, Owen Cooper, is quite the swingball enthusiast. Given the themes explored, extra caution was taken to safeguard Cooper during production. “We wrapped him in layers of support,” Barantini mentioned. “A child psychologist and chaperones were on set daily. We might have fretted more than him! After an emotional scene, I’d ask, ‘Owen, you alright?’ He’d promptly answer, ‘Yep! Ready to play swingball with my chaperone!’” Writer Jack Thorne confirmed, “Swingball was his main focus.”
Look closely, and you might spot the camera operator in one scene. In the climactic closing of episode two, the camera jaunts into the sky before seamlessly landing near Graham. Barantini explained, “As Ashley [Walters, playing DI Bascombe] exits in his car, a team latches the camera to a drone, which then soars overhead. Meanwhile, Matt [cinematographer Matthew Lewis] races to a van that drives to the location where the drone descends. They unclip it, and he strides towards Stephen’s face.” This intricate choreography demanded split-second precision, Barantini revealed, “Watch closely, and you’ll see his van navigating into the parking lot just as the drone touches down.”
That dazzling drone shot was once imagined differently … “The plan was for the drone to lift off, hover above the crime scene, and continue flying,” Barantini stated. “But mid-week, Netflix executive Toby Bentley proposed, ‘What if we included Stephen at the end?’“
… and it nearly failed to materialize. Each episode shooting stretched across a week. “We’d shoot once in the morning and again in the afternoon daily,” Graham shared. “Wednesday brought Toby’s suggestion—it left us with just two days to perfect it. Thursday’s strong winds thwarted us. Friday morning allowed for a brief shot, but the drone faltered and fell.” A contingency involved scrapping the drone and concluding with Graham beside the school. “Friday afternoon marked our last gasp,” Graham elaborated. “It’s the final take. All eyes were on it—and that take is what you see.”
The filming sites underwent extensive scouting. Inspired originally by the single location of Boiling Point, Barantini meticulously planned the camera movements while scriptwriting. Adolescence, with its broader scope and numerous locations, required even more precise plotting. “Matt and I used a map to meticulously plan the logistics before actors came on the scene,” Barantini remarked.
The first episode prominently featured a police station setting—a set, not a location. “We found a spot for the station in Pontefract,” Barantini noted. Yet, the pre-arrest house raid occurred in a real residence. “Finding a house mere minutes from the studio posed quite a challenge,” he admitted.
The third episode saw Cooper almost lose his voice. This intense installment, which showcased Cooper and Erin Doherty as a psychologist, was the first shot in the series. Bearing the weight of his debut role, Cooper delivered take after take. “The take used was when Owen sounded super hoarse,” said Doherty. “But Phil adored it.” Cooper explained, “All the yelling across scenes strained my voice until it seemed rough as a longtime smoker’s by the end.”