Hollywood star Ben Stiller has praised British drama Adolescence, one of the biggest TV hits of the year.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), he wrote: “#Adolescence is really disturbing and so well made. Incredible acting, film making and writing”. The praise comes following the success of his own show, Severance, on which Stiller works as show director.
Adolescence was released on March 13 by Netflix, and quickly became one of their most popular shows. The miniseries, where each episode is filmed in one shot, follows the story of a father (Stephen Graham) whose world is shattered when his son (Owen Cooper) is accused of murdering a classmate.
The show was a hit with viewers, becoming the most watched streaming television show in the UK in a single week. In its first three weeks, the series garnered 96.7million views on Netflix worldwide. As of March 30, it recorded 30.4million views.
#Adolescence is really disturbing and so well made. Incredible acting, film making and writing. 🙌
— Ben Stiller (@BenStiller) April 14, 2025
The show’s themes have also sparked a debate in Britain about the influence of toxic masculinity on young boys, and the effects of social media in general on impressionable teenagers. At the end of March, the streamer announced that the miniseries would be made available to schools as an educational tool.
While the decision as praised by Prime Minister Kier Starmer, former Conservative leader Boris Johnson criticised the move, and called the series “tosh”.
The success of Adolescence has led to speculation about the future of the series. While producer Graham and partner Hannah Walters recently said a follow up series is a “possibility”, reports have emerged that the Brad Pitt-founded production company Plan B are in talks to take the series forward.
As for Ben Stiller, he recently collaborated with Apple CEO Tim Cook to announce a third season of Severance, which is produced by the tech giant’s streaming service Apple TV+.