Streaming Now: “Adolescence” and ‘Defending Jacob” Profile Teenage Boys Accused Of Murder
Both are thought-provoking, engaging series for which the actors convincingly deliver solid performances
From the beginning of time, murder investigations have intrigued and mystified audiences in fiction and nonfiction stories, news reports and archival research. Unsurprisingly, they have also proliferated on streaming platforms where a special few rise above mere exploitive, often sensationalistic indulgence. In that regard, among the best and the most unusual is the recent, U.K. series “Adolescence,” all four chapters directed by Philip Barantini.
Cinematographer Matthew Lewis filmed each episode in one continuous take, without any apparent cuts or edits. The events and reactions to them unfold in a breathtaking flow, the technical achievement matching the suspenseful, at times shocking interrogation of Jamie Miller, a 13-year-old accused of fatally stabbing female classmate Katie Leonard. In unnerving interactions, all those involved in and affected by the brutal killing reveal stunning reactions. They involve: Detective Inspector Luke Bascombe and Detective Sergeant Misha Frank who arrest Eddie, appointed attorney Barlow, Jamie’s father Eddie, mother Manda, sister Lisa, schoolmates Jade and Ryan, and forensic psychologist Briony Ariston.
Each person adds significant insight into such a horrific murder by an adolescent boy. Issues explored include bullying in school as well as cyberbullying, easy access to pornographic social media, misogyny and pervasive violence against girls, conditioned gender attitudes toward men and women, community reactions and threats to the family. On full display is also the volatile, embryonic development of teenagers’ emotional maturity and stability along with the family’s inattention to and unawareness of Jamie’s psychological struggles. Inspired by several stabbings of young women, writer Stephen Graham does not detail any one case, though the series draws on troubling details and pervasive attitudes in contemporary society.
Five years before “Adolescence,” the U.S. eight episodes series “Defending Jacob” tackled a similar topic. In this instance, in Newton, Massachusetts (just outside Boston), 14-year-old Jacob Barber is accused of the fatal stabbing of his classmate Ben Rifkin. His father Andy, the Assistant District Attorney, is first assigned the case and then removed from it because of conflict of interest once Jacob is arrested. As in “Adolescence,” Jacob’s parents Andy and mother Laurie, a prosecutor, a defense lawyer, schoolmates, the community, news media, and more become involved. However, unnecessary subplots intrude padding out eight episodes that should have been no more than six. Distractions include previously convicted sexual offender Leonard Patz, Andy’s father Billy in prison for life having been convicted of rape and murder of a young girl when Andy was a boy, and Dr. Vogel, a psychiatrist specializing in behavioral science and genetics, including the possibility of Jacob inheriting the ‘murder gene.’ Phones are lost and found, knives searched for, Instagram accounts explored, and many lies told.
The father Andy repeatedly behaves incredibly stupidly, clearly to add excuses to derail the investigation and trial. Jacob also remains too often a cipher, morose and sullen, offering little more than a dreary distraction. Mother Laurie and Jacob’s attorney Joanna Klein occasionally offer voices of reason in a roller coaster attempt to keep viewers guessing about Jacob’s guilt or innocence. In contrast to “Adolescence,” “Defending Jacob” fails to burrow into the emotional and psychological profiles of adolescent boys. Both do raise the issue, only “Adolescence” knows how to advance a compelling interrogation of deep-seated problems. Both are thought-provoking, engaging series for which the actors convincingly deliver solid performances, especially, and often with startling emotions, everyone—young and middle-aged, male and female—in “Adolescence.” “Adolescence” streams on Netflix, “Defending Jacob” on Apple TV+.