What I have Been Watching: "Adolescence," "Dying for Sex," and "The Studio"

[I review the TV series "Adolescence," "Dying for Sex," and "The Studio."]

Adolescence (2025)

This four-part British drama series stars Stephen Graham as a working class husband and father, whose 13-year-old son, Jamie (Owen Cooper), is charged with murdering a female classmate.  

After a harrowing arrest sequence, including a strip search, which thankfully was not shown, thirteen-year-old Jamie Miller (Cooper) is vehement that he didn’t kill his classmate, and his parents, Eddie (Graham) and Manda (Christine Tremarco) and sister, Lisa (Amelie Pease), are confused and devastated.  But as the story unfolds, with investigations at Jamie's school and an interview with a psychologist (Erin Doherty), a hostile social media world of bullying and misogyny is exposed. Jamie’s parents have to come to grips with their guilt about what their son might have been doing alone in his room with his computer and what they might have done better as parents.

The series also exposes the great divide not only between adults and kids but the differences in us all that keeps us from understanding each other e.g. can an adult who was popular in school understand his unpopular son?  Can those of us who grew up without social media understand the social media pressures of young people today?  For every generation, there are pressures on young people that cannot be predicted and, often, not understood.

The series, directed by Philip Barantini and created and written by Graham and Jack Thorne, is a scary depiction of what it’s like for young people to grow up in the age of the Internet, how the systems that are meant to protect them often fail them and how difficult it is for parents to know what is going on. I have two grandsons 12 and 14, so this hit home.

Every one of the four episodes is filmed in one continuous shot which lends to the realism and creates a “you are there” feeling along with some utterly devastating moments. Though everyone in the cast deserves credit for wonderful performances, Graham is particularly extraordinary as he deals with the guilt of not having done more as a parent (his performance at the end of Episode 4 is just astonishing), and young Cooper is just amazing here, especially in Episode Three when he is interviewed by the psychologist and expresses every teenage emotion. It’s difficult to believe this is his very first acting role.

Netflix has made the series available for free to be shown in all UK secondary schools to spark discussion about the possible harm teenagers face on the Internet. I think that is a great idea.  Wouldn't be a bad idea for that to happen here too.

Rosy the Reviewer says…this is a wake-up call for parents but it’s also a riveting film experience so, if like me, you didn’t get on this bandwagon when the series started, there is still time to jump on.  This is a very important series that people will be talking about for a long time. (Netflix)

Dying for Sex (2025)

A woman with terminal cancer decides to live as much as possible before she dies and you won't believe what's on her bucket list.

This eight-part series on Hulu is based on a true story: Molly Kochan’s, who was given a terminal cancer diagnosis, and instead of giving into it, she decided to live.

Molly (Michelle Williams) leaves her husband, Steve (Jay Duplass), who treats her like, well, a cancer patient, and he hasn’t wanted to have sex with her for years. So she moves in with Nikki (Jenny Slate), her best friend, deciding that if she is going to die she wants to die with her.

”I don’t want to die with Steve; I want to die with you.”

The series is based on the Wondery podcast, created by the real-life Nikki and Molly, in the last months of Molly’s life to share her story and what a story it is!

Facing her dire prognosis, Molly doesn’t wallow in self-pity. Instead she decides she wants to have mind-blowing sex, something she has never had. And that’s what she sets out to do.

“Being sexual is the antithesis to death,” Kochan has said. “Sex also makes me feel alive and it’s a great distraction for being sick.” But she also had past sexual traumas to heal and her sexual escapades helped her take back her body.

Molly embarks on a quest to have as much sex as possible and – BE WARNED. Written by Elizabeth Meriweather and Kim Rosenstock, this series takes no prisoners when it comes to sex. THERE IS A LOT OF SEX and sex talk and bondage and body parts, so if you have a problem with that sort of thing, this is not for you. And for the rest of you, brace yourselves. Some of it is very cringey but also sometimes funny. Dark funny, but funny, especially Rob Delaney as Molly's neighbor who, shall we say, has a kinky side.

I don't mean to scare you. Yes, there is a lot of sex stuff, some of it uncomfortable (literally), but if you don’t watch this series, you will miss premiere performances by Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate and a wonderful story about love, all kinds of love. It’s about self-love, finding one’s self and embarking on a journey to get as much out of life as one can when time is ticking. It's about mother/daughter love and healing past hurts (it's wonderful to see Sissy Spacek again in a lovely performance as Molly's mother). And yes, a kind of love that can develop during sex play. But the true love story here is the love story that is real female friendship. Slate’s Nikki is a mess. Her purse alone should have star billing. But she is the epitome of a best friend. We all need a Nikki. Remember “Beaches?” This is kind of like that, but way, way, way edgier.

Rosy the Reviewer says…I always love stories about female friendship and this one is special. I also like a good cry. Expect to cry. (all episodes have dropped on Hulu. Each episode is only 30+ minutes so binge away)!

The Studio (Apple TV)

Seth Rogan wrote and stars in this biting and very funny satire of the movie industry.

Rogan plays Matt Remick, the newly appointed head of Continental Studios tasked to save the floundering company. Remick wants to make films with artistic integrity but CEO Griffin Mill (Bryan Cranston) will have none of that. Remick is told not to make arty farty movies.

“At Continental, we don’t make films. We make movies, movies people want to pay money to see.” Like “Barbie.” How about a movie about the Kool-Aid Man?! Huh?

Remick teams up with Sal Seperstein (Ike Barinholtz), a Continental executive and his best friend and Quinn Hackett (Chase Sui Wonders), Matt's assistant and a junior executive at Continental as well as Patty Leigh (Catherine O’Hara), his mentor and the former studio head and Maya Mason (Kathryn Hahn), head of marketing to save the company and his job, but it’s a constant struggle as Remick fights the realities of the Hollywood movie industry to make movies that live up to his artistic sense but that will also be box office successes. There is also infighting as everyone jockeys for a place in the company's hierarchy.

Directed by Rogan and Evan Goldberg, this is a satiric indictment of movie studios and movie executives led by their egos, who often don't have a clue about what the public really wants. All kinds of crazy antics ensue because Remick is very, very clueless and Seth Rogan is good at playing clueless. And he is at his Seth Rogan cringiest here. Let’s say this could be called “Cringe Comedy.” But it’s very funny and the ensemble cast is first-rate.

A host of celebrities make appearances playing themselves: Martin Scorsese, Paul Dano, Greta Lee, Steve Buscemi, Sarah Polley and Charlize Theron show up in the first two episodes with Ron Howard, Zac Ephron, Olivia Wilde, Rebecca Hall, Zoe Kravitz and others appearing in later episodes.

Rosy the Reviewer says… crude humor, lots of celebrity name dropping, film references and insider movie jargon but if you are a film nerd (raising my hand emoji), you will enjoy this (and it won’t hurt if you are a Seth Rogan fan). (Apple+TV)

See You Next Time!

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And next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database). Go to IMDB.com, find the movie you are interested in.  Scroll over to the right of the synopsis to where it says "Critics Reviews" - Click on that and if I have reviewed that film, you will find Rosy the Reviewer alphabetically on the list (NOTE:  IMDB keeps moving stuff around so if you don't find "Critics Reviews" where I am sending you, look around.  It's worth it)!