Adolescence

If you want to watch a thriller with an investigation, you’re better off choosing Defending Jacob (2020) or Presumed Innocent (2024), because this 4-episode series isn’t about “who murdered a girl” — it’s about “why did he do that.”

First of all, I want to highlight the brilliant performances of the cast. The episode with the psychiatrist was especially brilliant due to Owen Cooper’s performance. It looked like he didn’t play but lived through that episode. He became that boy.

And something tells me the actress who played the psychiatrist wasn’t entirely acting either, because she looked genuinely scared of him at that moment, and I certainly was. They all definitely deserved the awards and nominations at the Emmys and Golden Globes.

I think this series is really important right now, given the regained popularity of incel, red-pill and other misogynistic ideologies, and what can happen when people follow, support and spread these ideas.

It perfectly shows that boys get their gender socialisation not only by witnessing the abuse and humiliation of women in their lives, but through “soft power” — red-pill and incel content, feelings left unspoken by their dads (and sometimes mums), and emotions like sadness, loneliness and aggression that no one teaches them how to deal with.

I like the fact that the creators didn’t choose a dysfunctional family — no alcoholics, junkies or abusers. They chose a so-called “normal” family to show that this can happen to people who didn’t even expect it and don’t raise their kids in a typically patriarchal way.

I recommend parents watch this with their kids, especially their sons, to show how important it is to talk about feelings, insecurities and troubles, and to explain from a very young age that it’s better to cry out your feelings than to take someone’s life and end your own with such an irreversible act.

Also, I’d recommend watching Louis Theroux’s documentary about the manosphere to better understand the ideology of toxic masculinity and the people who spread it. It might be hard to watch, but it’s definitely worth it. Sometimes a hard pill to swallow makes you healthier at the end of the day.