‘Adolescence’ director Philip Barantini tells us about the show’s extraordinary global impact

As audiences around the globe continue to react to Netflix hit Adolescence, the show’s director Philip Barantini has told Rolling Stone UK about its extraordinary impact, as well as revealing the tricky realities of filming each episode in a single take.

READ MORE: ‘Adolescence’: Stephen Graham on the most important drama you’ll watch this year

The show, which focuses on the fall-out of a teenager being charged with stabbing one of his female classmates to death, has been hailed for casting a light on toxic masculine behaviour. Prime Minister Keir Starmer recently backed plans for it to be shown in schools, while it has also made history by becoming the first streaming show in history to top the UK’s weekly TV ratings. The series’ first episode was watched by 6.45 million people in its first week, according to ratings body Barb.

“We were just this little family that believed in this project and we thought it might do OK in the UK,” director Barantini tells Rolling Stone UK. “But when it came out a couple of weeks ago, it feels like we’ve dropped this thing in the middle of the ocean and the ripple effect it’s having is crazy to me. It’s incredible.”

Speaking about the show’s wide-ranging impact, Barantini said that star Stephen Graham – who plays the father of teenage murderer Jamie Miller – could potentially be going to Downing Street to discuss the timely issues raised in the show.

The show’s performances, particularly that of newcomer Owen Cooper, have been praised, but so too have the show’s technical accomplishments – with each episode captured in a single shot. In the wake of the show’s release, Netflix even released a video which explained how drones were used to capture the remarkable moment in episode two where the camera seamlessly transitions from a ground shot to an aerial shot and travels from a school to the crime scene where Eddie Miller (Graham) is paying his respects.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Barantini explains that episode two was one of the toughest challenges. “Episode two was the most logistically challenging, because not only have you got more actors but you’ve got 350 kids as well,” he explained.

“Then we’re going to jump out of a classroom window, then we’re gonna do a chase, there’s gonna be a stunt in the road with the cars, and then we’re gonna fly a drone. So all these logistical challenges had their moments of being incredibly stressful, but it’s thanks to my team, Matthew Lewis, my amazing cinematographer, and Sarah Lucas, who’s my first AD, that we could figure it out together and it was an amazing experience. There was never a point when we would be up against something and someone would be like, no you’re never gonna be able to do that, it was always looking at how we could make it work. It was a beautiful collaboration.”

As for Cooper – who delivers an extraordinary acting tour de force as Jamie – Barantini explained how he had been a stand out “since day one” of the casting process.

“No disrespect to all the kids who go to theatre school, but I didn’t want someone who was properly acting,” he explained of casting Cooper – who had never had formal training before taking the role.

“I wanted it to be as real as possible so I put these kids through their paces and we got it down to four or five young lads and Owen was the stand-out from day one. But there was four other kids who had made it all the way and we didn’t want to throw them to the curb so they have roles in the show too. The kid who plays Ryan (a schoolchild) was originally up for Jamie. They had to be in it.”

But the extraordinary extent of Cooper’s abilities, Barantini recalls, became clear at an early rehearsal. “I just wanted to sit down with the actors and read the script and talk about it,” he recalls.

“All the other actors were opening the scripts and Owen was just sat there with no script. I asked him if he had one and he said ‘Do I need it?’ He said he already knew it and I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. Sure enough, he knew word perfect and I just thought ‘Oh my god, this kid’s gonna be alright’.” Cooper is now one of the acting world’s hottest properties and will be seen in Emerald Fennell’s forthcoming adaptation of Wuthering Heights as young Heathcliff, after Graham referred him on the strength of his performance in this show.

While the show is rightly being lauded as one of 2025’s most significant cultural moments, Barantini says it’s the potential for societal change that has been the biggest reward.

“It’s just the most incredible feeling. Every single day I look at my phone or, you know, I get messages from people thanking me because they’ve now sat down with my child and spoken to them about all this,” he said.

“I’ve been getting screenshots of school forums where teachers are talking about showing it to their pupils. All of these things that we really hoped would happen. We hoped it would spark conversations within households and also potentially in schools, but, but it’s done that and beyond and that literally is the biggest win for me.

“We set out to make a great drama because that’s our business, but if there’s a message to be told then drama is such a powerful tool to be able to get that across. We saw it with the Post Office scandal and there’s always certain stories or certain things happening in the world that we’re unaware of and we certainly don’t know the the extent of it. That was the case for me when I was researching the manosphere and toxic masculinity. It’s really blown my mind and I’m incredibly grateful for what this show has been able to do. It’s a beautiful thing to experience.”