They are talking about it on social media. Discussing it in British parliament where Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he supports a campaign for it to be shown in schools. Gripping, perfect, raw are just some of the adjectives being showered by critics. And since its release on March 13, Netflix’s Adolescence has already claimed top slot in 71 countries.

The spoiler alert is that there is no spoiler alert. This is, in the words of co-scriptwriter and co-creator Jack Thorne, a “why-done-it, rather than a whodunit”. It’s the why that serves as a cautionary tale; it’s the why that will break any parent’s heart; it’s the why that makes it such essential watching for our times.

A 13-year-old boy is accused of murdering his female classmate. That is established in the first few minutes. You look at the scared face of child actor Owen Cooper, a child who wets his pyjamas in fright, and........

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