The British series Adolescence has generated a frenzy of commentary in Europe and beyond, with contributors who are rarely cinephiles, but rather social observers: sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, criminologists, influencers, and youth experts. Political leaders as well. This diverse assembly discusses it as they would Donald Trump's taxes or climate change. Each projects their convictions onto the raw footage, offering their truth on a series that delivers none.

The four episodes, each around an hour long, have been available since March 13 on Netflix. They narrate the story of Jamie Miller, 13, from a modest and loving family, accused of stabbing a schoolmate seven times.

Two questions become intertwined: Why did he do it? And why has a stark series, more akin to reportage than fiction, recommended for viewers over 12, launched without fanfare by a platform unaccustomed to this narrative style, surpassed 100 million views worldwide, breaking multiple records? "The phenomenon is unprecedented," confirmed Laurence Herszberg, the director of international TV series festival Séries Mania festival in Lille, northern France.

The success stems from parents, who see the series as a mirror of their powerlessness facing their inscrutable teenager, and also from experts happy to stir the pot to arrive at a singular explanation: Jamie is an "incel" (involuntary celibate), who feels humiliated by girls to the point of killing one. The subject sparked a massive debate in the United Kingdom.

As a result of all this chatter, the series gained in viewership what it lost in aura and mystery. It changed status, becoming a kind of visual dossier on adolescence. The detachment generated by fiction is erased, opening the door to the boldest judgments. Former Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson, an expert in provocations, called it "well-acted tosh" (Daily Mail, April 5) and far-right commentators termed it the height of "anti-White propaganda." Elon Musk himself eagerly jumped on this fake news bandwagon.

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