The Netflix limited series Adolescence was a major winner at the 2026 Critics Choice Awards this weekend. The show won four major awards, including the top prize for Best Limited Series.
Creator and star Stephen Graham accepted the award for Best Limited Series and also won the award for Best Actor in a Limited Series. The show’s young star, Owen Cooper, won Best Supporting Actor, and his co-star Erin Doherty won Best Supporting Actress. This caps off a successful awards season for the series, which also performed well at the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2025.
In his acceptance speech, Graham shared the personal philosophy behind the production. He thanked the entire cast and crew, stating, “We’re all exactly the same. When I was a kid, my mum told me, ‘You’re never above anyone and you’re never below anyone.’ So we’re all equal. And I think the ethos that we carried into this piece… paid off”.
He concluded his remarks with an emotional note for families, saying, “It was a unique experience. And I’d just like to say, if you’ve got any kids at home, give them a massive cuddle and tell them you love them”.
A Full List of Winners from the 2026 Critics Choice Awards
The 31st Critics Choice Awards ceremony was held on Sunday, January 4, 2026, at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. The event was hosted for the fourth year in a row by comedian Chelsea Handler. The awards honor the best in film and television as chosen by critics and journalists.
In the film categories, the subversive comedy One Battle After Another won the top prize for Best Picture. Its director, Paul Thomas Anderson, also won awards for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Timothée Chalamet won Best Actor for his role in Marty Supreme, and Jessie Buckley won Best Actress for Hamnet.
Other major film winners included Frankenstein and Sinners, which each won four awards. Sinners star Miles Caton was named Best Young Performer.
On the television side, Adolescence led the limited series field. Other major TV winners included The Pitt for Best Drama Series and The Studio for Best Comedy Series. Sarah Snook won Best Actress in a Limited Series for All Her Fault.
The Story and Success of Netflix’s Adolescence
Adolescence is a British psychological crime drama that premiered on Netflix on March 13, 2025. The four-episode series tells the story of 13-year-old Jamie Miller (played by Owen Cooper), who is arrested for the murder of his female classmate. The show explores the aftermath for Jamie’s family and the investigation into his motivations, which include online radicalization and cyberbullying.
The series was created by Stephen Graham and writer Jack Thorne. Graham has explained that he was inspired to create the show after several real-life cases of knife crime involving teenagers in the UK. Thorne stated that they wanted to “look in the eye of modern male rage” and examine the influence of certain online figures on young boys.
A major technical achievement of the series is that each of its four episodes was filmed in one continuous take. This demanding style required extensive rehearsal, with each hour-long episode shot about ten times. The director, Philip Barantini, had previously worked with Graham on the one-take film Boiling Point in 2021.
The show was a critical and popular hit for Netflix. It was one of the platform’s most-watched titles of 2025 and even became the first streaming show to top the UK’s weekly television ratings. Prior to its Critics Choice wins, Adolescence won several awards at the 2025 Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series.
Young Star Owen Cooper’s “Whirlwind” Year
One of the most talked-about stories from the awards was the win by Owen Cooper. The 16-year-old actor won Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series for his role as Jamie Miller. This role was Cooper’s first professional acting job.
In his acceptance speech, Cooper described the past year as life-changing. “The past year has been a complete whirlwind for me and my family. Honestly, it’s changed our lives forever and we’re forever grateful,” he said.
He went on to thank the show’s directors, producers, cast, and crew. “You took me on an emotional journey I never imagined I could go on… You believed in me, you pushed me when things were hard and showed incredible patience,” Cooper stated. He concluded by saying, “Receiving this award means more to me than I can put even into words”.
Cooper was cast after a wide search that considered about 500 boys for the part. Casting director Shaheen Baig found him through a drama school in Manchester that works with students from underrepresented communities.
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What’s Next for the Adolescence Team?
With the awards season success of Adolescence, many are wondering if the team will work together again. In recent comments, Stephen Graham has hinted at the possibility. He playfully suggested that the cast and crew might reunite for a new project “a few years down the line”.
The show was conceived as a limited series, and its story is complete. However, reports from April 2025 indicated that Netflix and the production company Plan B Entertainment were in talks about the potential for a second season. Graham’s recent remarks suggest that any new collaboration with the same creative team would be for a different, new project rather than a direct continuation of Adolescence.
The show’s sweep at the Critics Choice Awards, following its Emmy success, solidifies its place as one of the most acclaimed television productions of the year. All four episodes of Adolescence are available to stream globally on Netflix.
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