Episode 3 of Netflix's Emmy-nominated miniseries Adolescence is essentially a two-player one-act that features Erin Doherty as psychologist Briony Ariston and young Owen Cooper as accused murderer Jamie Miller. Both Doherty and Cooper are nominated for their performances, which are, to use that criminally overused expression, "amazing."
The series features wonderful writing, direction and camerawork and is the story of the investigation into the death of a local school girl. A young classmate is arrested on charges of having followed her and stabbed her to death after a brief argument. Police used CCTV footage to identify the suspect, who is detained and examined by psychologists to determine his mental capacity, that is, what does he "understand."
For most of the episode, the psychologist and the boy sit across from each other at a table. She begins the session brightly, and the boy seems cooperative but when talk turns to definitions of manhood, the temperature in the room spikes, then ebbs, then spikes again, even as the space between the two characters gets tighter.
Jamie, clearly emotionally unstable because of the bullying he's suffered at school and on Instagram, grows increasing threatening and Briony steels herself against the tirade, holding fast to her professionalism while feeling enormous unexpressed pity for the child. The last five minutes in the episode are riveting and devastating .... and heartbreaking.
What a ride!
No comments:
Post a Comment