Unbelievable and 3 Other Brilliant Dramatic TV Series to Watch After Adolescence
Intense investigations, heartless criminals, and toxic waste.
The buzz around Adolescence, Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham's powerful miniseries about teenage violence and the nature of evil, is starting to die down.
The project was fascinating and, most importantly, resonant; it sparked important public discussions. We've compiled a list of series similar to Adolescence.
1. The Virtues, 2019
The plot centers on Joseph, whose life loses its meaning when his ex-wife takes their son and moves to Australia.
The emptiness devours the man from within, and in an attempt to come to terms with the loss, Joseph travels to his native Ireland, where his sister Anna lives. The relatives have not seen each other for 30 years, and for good reason: upon his return, Joseph's traumatic past resurfaces.
The Virtues is not only a heavy drama about facing childhood traumas and trying not to lose oneself in the fight against the past, but also a real psychological execution, where every scene hits the nerves.
2. Unbelievable, 2019
An underrated but powerful Netflix miniseries based on a true investigative report. Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize, it tells a horrifying story of police inaction and a broken justice system.
The series centers on Marie Adler, a victim of sexualized violence who reports it to the police, only to face aggression, doubt, and pressure from family, friends, and the two male police officers assigned to her case.
Under their pressure, Marie is forced to recant, becoming a victim not only of the violence, but of the system. Three years later, in another state, female detectives begin investigating a series of rapes and track down the perpetrator, who turns out to be the same man who attacked Adler.
3. Toxic Town, 2025
At first glance, the story of the Corby toxic waste case may seem to have nothing in common with Adolescence.
However, the mini-series was written by the same Jack Thorne, and the plot of Toxic Town is based on real events, using the story of a high-profile case to raise global issues.
In four episodes, the creators examine the scandal when the people of Corby discovered that toxic waste leaked into the soil and water after the demolition of a steel mill, spreading throughout the town and causing the birth of children with disabilities.
4. The Night Of, 2016
The crime thriller turns a typical courtroom story into a claustrophobic nightmare. The plot centers on Naz Khan, a Pakistani student who meets a girl one night and finds her dead the next morning.
Before the man can process anything, he is handcuffed and plunged headlong into the quagmire of legal hell. Over the course of seven episodes, Naz slowly loses himself: prison distorts his view of the world, his manners, and even his habits.
The only chance to save him is his lawyer, John Stone, who, though skeptical, refuses to give up on a losing case. Although The Night Of may not be visually surprising, it clearly demonstrates how the justice system is capable of crippling the lives of innocent people.