Stu Moore

Adolescence is a brilliantly made, but deeply flawed piece of work. The first episode is gripping, no doubt about that. You're left discombobulated and yearning to find out more by the end. Then the next two episodes slow right down and begin a long, confusing meander around that oh-so-right-on zeitgeist, toxic masculinity. It seems to want to convince us that the greatest latent threat to our society is from white teenage boys who come from stable, married working class families. Really?! Is that the message? Yawn. That's not to detract from how engaging and well made this series is. Stephen Graham is, as ever, a strong player on screen. His son, played by rising star Owen Cooper, is deeply affecting and the single take style of filming, while a bit distracting, is a wonder. But let us not make the mistake of conflating powerful storytelling with some profound societal commentary. It's not helpful, and young white males have enough on their plates already, ranking lower than most other groups at school, without being demonised on Netflix so compellingly.

I confess a small amount of bias in rating this movie, as much of it is set in London and East Anglia, where I used to live. As such, its various scenes of Michael Caine at the 'coal face', closing in on Pierce Brosnan's Soviet agent, feel extremely grounded and visceral. I love the scene where Caine and Matthew Marsh are busy throwing a Ford Transit across the Suffolk suburbs and Caine asks worriedly 'who signed for this van?!' Marsh, concentrating on avoiding cars and pedestrians, smirks and replies 'you did'. The story is a cracker, based on Frederick Forsyth's novel of the same title. The screenplay, also written by Forsyth, keeps its characters very 3 dimensional, even the minority players. The actors deliver polished performances across the board and it's all directed with competence and grip by John Mackenzie. As a result, the whole movie feels both taut and authentic. It think it stays fairly true to the ways and means of the security services of the eighties. My only gripe is with the very final couple of minutes, where Caine confronts his puppet masters in a slightly leary scene that jars with the rest of the movie's tone. Otherwise, this is as good a spy movie as you could want. Go watch it, if you haven't already!