Critics nearly in unison about how they feel about Netflix's Adolescence

To be fair, the new Netflix series Adolescence is a difficult watch. It is not designed to be fun, but instead to be edge-of-your-seat riveting. The plot revolves around a 13-year-old boy who is accused of murdering a classmate, so start there before you decide if you want to watch the series.

But is it good? Clearly, there is a risk in the storytelling of that kind of plot. One would not want to make the boy an overly empathetic character because that might let us know early on that he didn't do what he is accused of. That would sap some of the high-level drama of what unfolds. We should be left guessing.

Adolescence doesn't just have a story that keeps you wondering what is going to happen next; the filmmaking and cinematography do that, too. Each episode is one continuous stream of a scene. There is no time to take a breath, and the four-episode arc keeps pushing you into the next episode.

Netflix's Adolescence will stay with you long after you have stopped watching

It must be noted that newcomer Owen Cooper is ridiculously believable and enthralling as 13-year-old Jamie Miller. Ashley Walters is excellent as Detective Inspector Bascombe. There is not a minute of wasted screentime. But how well do the professional critics like the series?

Extraordinarily well, as it turns out. Rotten Tomatoes has given the series a pure 100. Metacritic has a collective score of 89. In other words, they love how well the series is made.

The lowest grade on Metacritic is an 80. Still quite good. Daniel Fienberg of the Hollywood Reporter, who was one of the critics to give the show an 80 wrote, "It’s in large part thanks to (the) acting...that the resolutely dark, downbeat Adolescence is able to avoid feeling like a protracted episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."

Many critics state that the series will not immediately leave their memories once they stop watching. The show is haunting and dark, and it will have a disturbing presence in your thoughts for some time. That is a mark of great series-making. The show wants you to think and spark conversation, and it will do that.

In other words, the series is wroth watching. Just be forewarned that there is not a lot of "fun" to it.

More Netflix news and reviews: