Inspired by the shocking rise in knife crime amongst young people in the UK, Adolescence tells the story of 13-year-old schoolboy Jamie (Cooper) who is arrested on suspicion of murdering his female classmate Katie (Emilia Holliday).
The following episodes then show Jamie’s parents (Graham and Christine Tremarco) struggle to navigate their new reality as viewers learn what motivated their teenage son to take the life of his classmate.
The series has since shot to the top of Netflix viewing charts, with viewers praising writers Graham and Jack Thorne for shining a light on how easily young people can become radicalised by extremist content online, with Jamie revealed to have visited incel sites.
Observant viewers have also pointed out all of the clever details weaved into the series, which include the emojis which Jamie uses, foreshadowing of his fate in the opening scenes, as well as the reason why his psychologist offers him half of a sandwich in episode three.
Emilia Holliday’s vocals feature in one of the most heart wrenching moments of the series (Netflix)
However one particular heartbreaking detail has caught one viewer’s attention. Taking to TikTok, @indigoreports pointed out that Holliday’s character actually has a bigger role in the series then we initially realised.
“Throughout the show we don’t ever get to hear from Katie,” she explained. “However the haunting detail is that Katie is actually talking to us throughout the show in her own way.
“That’s because a lot of the songs on the soundtrack are actually sung by Katie herself.”
This wasn’t just a theory. Speaking about the children’s choir we hear covering Sting’s ‘Fragile’ at the end of episode two in a video shared on Instagram by Netflix, Graham said: “The beautiful part of the process is that we used a choir from the actual school [they filmed in] and the kids from that area.
“The girl singing [the final section] is the girl that played the girl that got killed.”
Another goosebump-inducing musical moment comes at the end of the final episode, with ‘Through the Eyes of a Child’ by Aurora playing over the series’ closing moments.
The series is a tough watch (Netflix)
Director Philip Barantini explained it’s Holliday’s voice we hear there too.
“The voice in the score is Katie’s voice,” he confirmed in an interview with Tudum. “Katie is a part of the whole series, her presence is always there.”
The director also touched on the decision to use the Norwegian singer-songwriter’s track, which talks about loss and longing for a ‘childlike soul’, in final scene of the series.
Explaining that he’d come across the song after being sent a script for the series, Barantini said: “I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It’s just absolutely incredible.”
