Adolescence (Philip Barantini, Netflix series, 2025) & One Of Them Days (Lawrence Lamont, theaters, 2025)

Adolescence is a daring new Netflix series, in which all four episodes are filmed in one continuous shot, about a teenage boy who may (or may not) have killed his female classmate.

The fact that the camera never cuts away makes Adolescence somewhat of a nerve wrecking experience.

The only release you get as a viewer is between episodes and/or if you just press pause.

This British series is written by Jack Thorne (who also wrote the recent Toxic Town) and Stephen Graham, who is famous for being a character actor in movies big (the Venom franchise) and small (Steve McQueen’s recent Blitz), while also playing the lead in the Netflix series Bodies.

Graham also played the lead in the workplace thriller drama Boiling Point (2021), where he was the head chef of a restaurant kitchen who wrangled his team on the busiest day of the year.

That movie was directed an co-written by Philip Barantini and a lot of its intensity came from the fact that it was filmed in one continuous take.

The same goes for Adolescence, which is directed to great effect by Barantini, while kudos should also go to ace cinematographer Matthew Lewis.

Meanwhile the always reliable Stephen Graham plays one of the main roles, as the father of the boy who is arrested at the start of the first episode.

The 13-year old Jamie Miller is played by Owen Cooper and this young actor is doing spectacular work here.

Even for experienced actors like Graham, or Ashley Walters (as one of the investigating officers) and Erin Doherty (as a clinical psychologist) it isn’t easy to get everything right in one continuous take, no matter how many times you rehearse or shoot it for real.

The fact that Cooper more than holds his own points towards a great future.

The first episode is mostly concerned with Jamie’s arrest after which he is placed in custody. In the second the police talk to the pupils at Jamie’s school. In the third the boy is evaluated by the psychologist, with some shocking results, while the final episodes focuses on the impact everything has had on the rest of Miller family.

Despite Jamie’s young age, Adolescence is basically a thorough study of toxic masculinity, that refuses to come up with easy answers for complex psychological problems. Even though when all is said and done, in these times of Andrew Tate, you could probably still boil it down to the old: boys don’t want to be ridiculed, while girls don’t want to get killed.

In the end Adolescence is a must-see series that will probably rank high on the year-end lists of 2025.

I give it 4 1/2 stars!

ONE OF THEM DAYS (Lawrence Lamont, 2025)

One Of Them Days is a delightful buddy comedy, featuring razor sharp performances by Keke Palmer and SZA, as they embark on an odyssey through the streets of Los Angeles.

It’s a movie with a social consciousness that Ken Loach would be proud of, as it depicts the struggles of two working class women who - between all the laughs - race against the clock to pay the rent on time.

Written by Syreeta Singleton and directed by Lawrence Lamont, it tells the story of one of them days when everything that can go wrong immediately does.

Dreux (Palmer) is an ambitious waitress who wants to become a franchise manager, while her best friend and roommate Alyssa (singer SZA) is a struggling artist.

Dreux makes just about enough to cover the rent for the two of them, but when Alyssa’s no good boyfriend Keshawn (Joshua David Neal) spends the 1500 dollar he’s (rather foolishly) been entrusted with on a new business enterprise, they suddenly face eviction by the end of the day.

To make matters even more complicated Dreux has a job interview lined up at 4pm for the kind of job to that could put an end to all their financial troubles.

But first they embark on an odyssey through the streets of the Los Angeles neighborhood Baldwin Hills, which is referred to as The Jungle even by the people who live there.

They try to give blood, get a loan and sell a pair of vintage basketball shoes, but all that is easier said than done, especially when you’re not part of the privileged few.

In between the many funny moments, the movie paints a convincing picture of a place where far too many people have to go from paycheck to paycheck without a proper social security system to back up the unfortunate many.

Still, I’m happy to report that the last thirty minutes provide the sort of wish fulfillment for its main characters that Hollywood always does best.

Both Palmer and SZA deliver outstanding performances, and share a chemistry that would be hard to match by other comedy duos. They’re a blast of fresh air, while the supporting cast is uniformly excellent too.

The movie looks vibrant and colorful, while boasting a fun and mood enhancing soundtrack. If there is Another One Of Them Days on the horizon, I’ll be looking forward too it.

I give it four stars!

Note: One Of Them Days has so far been released in countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, Portugal, United Kingdom and Ireland. This week the movie is released in The Netherlands.