When Adolescence premiered on Netflix on March 13, 2025, it didn’t just captivate—it mesmerized, pulling in 66.3 million views in its first two weeks and claiming the crown as the UK’s most-watched streaming debut ever with 6.45 million premiere viewers. The four-part British crime thriller, co-created by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham, follows 13-year-old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper), accused of murdering his classmate, through the unraveling of his parents Eddie (Graham) and Manda (Christine Tremarco). Its raw story of youth violence and online radicalization has sparked global buzz, but it’s the show’s bold claim—each episode filmed in a single, unbroken take—that’s left audiences and critics in awe. With a 98% Rotten Tomatoes score and a chokehold on charts in over 75 countries, Adolescence is a technical marvel. But was it really shot in one take? The secrets under the hood of this stunning series are as shocking as they are brilliant—here’s the full reveal.

Adolescence isn’t just an emotional marvel, but a technical one as well.

The timely Netflix series centers around a 13-year-old boy, Jamie (Owen Cooper), who’s arrested for the murder of a female classmate. It’s told over four episodes, each of which unfolds in real time. In an effort to capture chaos, immediacy, and realism, the showrunners sought to create an unbroken visual experience with no cutaways. The result is bracing and intimate, sometimes uncomfortably so.

Surely, though, this was accomplished through clever editing, right? After all, that’s what Alejandro González Iñárritu did with 2015’s Birdman, a “one-take” film that won Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Well, believe it or not, each of Adolescence‘s four episodes was filmed in a single, unbroken take.

So, how was Adolescence shot in one take? How much preparation did it take? And how many times did they need to do it before getting it right? Read on for these answers and more.

How was Adolescence shot?

‘Adolescence’.Courtesy of Netflix

In a behind-the-scenes look at Adolescence, the cast and crew broke down the filming process, revealing that each episode was allotted three weeks for production.

The first week was about walking through the episode “scene by scene,” per actor Ashley Walters. Director Philip Barantini adds that the performers rehearsed each scene until it became “muscle memory.”

During the next week, the technical crew entered the picture. Speaking with Variety, Lewis likened the process of staging each episode, mapping transitions, and masking the crew to moving around puzzle pieces. “It’s a lot of planning. You can’t do a shot list, so we didn’t have one,” he said. “We mapped the area we were using and looked at how the camera would move within it, and we rehearsed it like a dance, between me and the cast.”

‘Adolescence’.Courtesy of Ben Blackall/Netflix

Barantini elaborated in an interview with Screen Daily. “We had to plan way more in advance than you would do with a conventional show because the actors need to rehearse in the spaces and we need to know exactly where the camera can go,” he said. “Me and [Lewis] had models of the police station and we used little figures and a little camera to map it out. When they were still building the studio but the walls were up, we would go down after everyone had gone home. Matt would have his iPad and then I’d play all the characters and we’d just be walking around and be like, ‘Right we can’t go in that door, let’s try this one.'”

Furthermore, Lewis said, rewrites were often necessary to suit the location and choreography. This resulted in screenwriter Jack Thorne reworking his original scripts to add motivation for movements necessitated by the technical demands.

The final week was about bringing all the elements together to shoot the episode. “Before each take my heart is pounding, absolutely everyone feels it because everyone knows how important their job is,” Lewis says in the Adolescence making-of documentary.

Barantini adds, “There’s not one person on that set who’s not important.”

Why was Adolescence filmed in one take?

Owen Cooper as Jamie in ‘Adolescence’.Courtesy of Netflix

Impressive as they can be, single-shot media can run the risk of coming off as a gimmick. The creators of Adolescence, though, came to the project with intention.

“With Adolescence, I wanted the audience to go on an immersive journey that unfolds in real time just as it’s unfolding for the actors in real time,” Barantini said in a recent interview. “[The single-take] creates a tension and forces a perspective on the audience to where they can’t look away, even if they feel anxious or awkward. [The one-shot] doesn’t lend itself to all genres, but for this show, we wanted to dip the audience in for an hour, and we pull them out. The next time, it’s a few days later or 13 months later, and it’s up to the audience to figure things out for themselves.”

Several of the actors likened the experience of filming Adolescence to acting in a theatrical play. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Stephen Graham, the series’ co-creator and co-writer who also plays Eddie, described the project as a “marriage” of theater and TV.

“We have to work out how to move around the table and where because it has to be seamless and continuous,” he said. “It’s just such a wonderful process, but it is the most zen as an actor I’ve ever been. You are in that character from the moment we say ‘action’ and start until the moment we say ‘cut’ and finish.”

What camera was used to film Adolescence?

Christine Tremarco as Manda Miller and Stephen Graham as Eddie Miller in ‘Adolescence’.Courtesy of Netflix© 2024

Lewis told Variety that they shot Adolescence on the DJI Ronin 4D camera. “It had its limitations, but in the ways we needed it to work: being a small gimbal that you could pass between operators, one that you can hold out in front of you without having to attach it to a person, and at the click of a button, you can go handheld, or click it onto a drone,” he said.

In the making-of documentary, you can see the camera used in a variety of ways, including being hitched to a drone and locked onto a crane attached to a car.

How many takes did each episode of Adolescence take?

‘Adolescence’.Courtesy of Ben Blackall/Netflix

As Barantini explained, the plan was to do 10 takes of each episode — two a day for five days. That didn’t always turn out to be the case, though. “Sometimes we’d have to stop and go again, and that was one take, so for some episodes we did up to 16 takes,” he told Screen Daily.

During a Q&A on X (formerly Twitter), Netflix revealed that episode 1 is the second take, episode 2 is the 13th take, episode 3 is the 11th take, and episode 4 is the 16th take.

How did they shoot the Adolescence episode 2 ending?

Ashley Walters as DI Bascombe in ‘Adolescence’.Courtesy of Netflix

Adolescence‘s breathtaking second episode ending sees the camera taking flight outside Jamie’s school, soaring over the town, and touching down in the lot where Katie was killed. There, we see Eddie laying flowers at her memorial. This was accomplished without disrupting the shot.

The intricately choreographed sequence was accomplished by gently hooking the camera to a drone. “It was a last-minute request from the execs,” Lewis told Variety. “We were originally going to take off and fly and stay up in the air, but they thought it would be a nice beat to go back and find Stephen Graham at the end of the scene, so we had a couple of days to work that out, but we got it.”

Thorne discussed the shot in Netflix’s making-of documentary. “It was an example of the technical meeting the story and finding a fusion, which is actually better than anything that the story had come up with on its own,” he says.

Where can I watch Adolescence?

Ashley Walters and Faye Marsay in ‘Adolescence’.Courtesy of Netflix

The One-Shot Hype

From the jump, Adolescence marketed itself as a feat of filmmaking: four hour-long episodes, each a continuous shot with no cuts. The technique—pioneered in films like Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope and Sam Mendes’ 1917—plunges viewers into real-time chaos, from the police storming the Miller home in Episode 1 to Jamie’s chilling confession in Episode 4. Director Philip Barantini, a one-shot veteran from Boiling Point, told Variety, “We wanted you to feel trapped with them—no escape, no relief.” Critics bought in—Rolling Stone UK called it “a technical marvel,” while The Independent hailed its “claustrophobic intensity.”

Fans on X went wild: “The one-take thing is insane—how’d they do it?” one posted. Another gushed, “It’s like living it.” The format’s buzz helped propel its 42 million Week 2 views, but whispers persist: Is it really one take, or is Netflix pulling a fast one? The truth is a mix of genius, grit, and a few clever tricks.

The Core Truth: Yes, But…

Let’s cut to the chase: Adolescence was indeed shot in single takes—mostly. Barantini confirmed to The Wrap on March 20, 2025, “Each episode is one continuous shot, but we didn’t just roll and pray.” The process was meticulous: every episode was filmed twice in full, back-to-back, with the crew picking the best take after refining notes between runs. “We’d do an hour, break, tweak, then go again,” he explained. The chosen takes—averaging 58 minutes each—form the final cut, unedited from start to finish.

Owen Cooper, the 15-year-old breakout star, backed this up on The One Show, recalling his first day on Episode 3: “We did two takes—it was exhausting, but you can’t stop.” Stephen Graham, who plays Eddie and co-created the series, told Tudum, “It’s relentless… like a play, but with cameras chasing you.” The result? Four seamless episodes where every stumble, tear, and scream feels live—because it was.

The Shocking Secrets

So, what’s under the hood? The secrets are less about cheating and more about Herculean effort—and a few sly moves:

Rehearsal Madness: The cast rehearsed for two weeks, treating it like theater. “We’d run it daily, full-out,” Cooper told Variety. Graham likened it to “a dance,” with 20-plus actors and crew syncing every step. Locations—a house, police station, courtroom—were rigged with hidden tracks for Steadicams, operated by cinematographer Matthew Lewis, to glide through chaos.
The ‘Horrible’ Toll: Cooper’s Episode 3—a 50-minute psychological duel with Erin Doherty’s Briony—was a beast. “It was horrible,” he told Tudum, citing exhaustion after take two. Doherty’s unscripted “Am I boring you?”—prompted by his yawn—stayed in, a happy accident. “The crew was crying,” Barantini said, stunned by the rawness.
Hidden Cuts?: Eagle-eyed fans on X speculated about edits—like a dark hallway in Episode 2. Barantini debunked this to PA news agency: “No cuts, but we used shadows and movement to mask transitions.” Think actors passing walls or doors slamming—natural beats that hide camera resets without breaking the take.
Tech Wizardry: Two Steadicams swapped mid-take, with operators handing off like a relay race. “You don’t see it,” Lewis told Digital Spy, “but one guy’s sprinting to the next mark.” Sound was live—mics on actors, booms overhead—mixed later to polish, not fake, the audio.
The Reset Rule: If a take crashed—say, a flubbed line or tripped cable—they’d restart from zero. “We lost a few,” Barantini admitted, “but never patched it.” The second take of Episode 1, with police bursting in, was “pandemonium perfected,” per Graham.

Why It Works

The one-shot magic isn’t just a gimmick—it’s the soul of Adolescence. “It’s life—no do-overs,” Tremarco told Lorraine on March 24, 2025. That immediacy amplifies the story’s terror: a normal family (not gang-tied, not broken) undone by a son’s radicalization via the “manosphere.” Real-world stakes—18,500 UK knife crimes in 2023, incel attacks like Toronto 2018—hit harder when you can’t look away. “You’re in their shoes,” Barantini said, a nod to its 95% Popcornmeter love.

The Team’s Triumph

This wasn’t easy. Cooper, a newbie, called it “mad” on Netflix’s X drop of his audition tape. Graham, a one-shot vet, praised the crew’s “military precision.” Thorne, the writer, told The Guardian, “Phil made it realer than I dreamed.” The toll was steep—Cooper’s fatigue, Graham’s “relentless” pace—but the payoff’s historic: 24.3 million views in four days, per The Sun, and a cultural ripple from X to Parliament.

Fan Frenzy and Legacy

X posts marvel at the feat: “One take? Mind blown,” one wrote. “The tension’s unreal,” another raved. Some dig for flaws—“That shadow’s sus!”—but most cheer the audacity. “It’s why it’s so powerful,” a teacher tweeted, using it to discuss knife crime with students. Starmer’s “essential viewing” nod on March 22 ties it to policy talks, proving its reach.

The Verdict

Was Adolescence really shot in one take? Yes—with asterisks of sweat, ingenuity, and a cast pushed to the brink. Streaming now on Netflix as of March 26, 2025, its four-episode run is a technical stunner that shocks not with fakery but with fearless craft. The secrets—rehearsals, live flubs, camera dances—don’t diminish; they dazzle. Adolescence isn’t just TV—it’s a high-wire act that proves storytelling can still stop the world, one unbroken shot at a time.