REVIEW: ‘Adoration’ Season 1 Is A Boring Soap Opera

With all of the logistics, outbursts, and musical cues of a mid-2000s soap opera, Adoration clings to the big moments. The Italian teen drama series, directed by Stefano Mordini and based on the novel by Alice Urciuolo, keeps the story tightly woven in just six episodes. However, despite the story entrenching itself in mystery, it loses momentum quickly due to rushed characterization, introductions, and protagonists who can’t maintain interest. It doesn’t matter how fantastical or dramatic a story is; if there aren’t interesting characters at the center, there’s nothing to ground the sensational.

The series follows a small community whose lives are disrupted when a 16-year-old girl, Elena (Alice Lupparelli), seemingly disappears. Her friends and family are rightfully worried, though some for more nefarious reasons. Adoration follows the group as they try to recreate the last moments leading to her disappearance. The series immediately throws viewers into the impending mystery, as the first shots show a girl running away in the dark. The premier then cuts to 12 hours earlier, when Elena’s greatest hurdles were bad grades.

The biggest initial issue with Adoration is the rapid-fire introduction of the characters and the many different dynamics and messy relationships shared between the friend group. Best friends Elena and Vanessa (Noemi Magagnini) are the first ones introduced. They straddle the line of friendship, being one another’s greatest supports and the first to irritate. Within a ten-minute sequence, we watch as they share a stolen pair of earrings to declare their friendship, an argument, and a quick reconciliation. It’s perhaps one of the more realistic aspects of the series, capturing the emotional volatility of being a teenager.

But that’s where the realism ends. Other characters include Vanessa’s cousin, the perpetually annoyed Vera (Beatrice Puccilli), and her brother, Giorgio (Giulio Brizzi). Add to this Elena and Vanessa’s boyfriends and their extended, interloping friend group, and there’s immediate confusion on who everyone is, whose friends with whom, and who is sneaking around with people they shouldn’t. It’s shockingly convoluted at the start for such a surface-level, straightforward series.

And part of that is the inherent need to suspend our disbelief regarding these characters. Like many teenage-centric series before them, from The O.C. to Euphoria, Adoration adopts an elevated version of being a teenager. No doubt some 16-year-olds get delivered a truck filled with roses for their sweet sixteen and wear designer gowns for their birthday celebration. But as a one-time teenager who was stuck watching paintball tutorials in her first boyfriend’s basement after being treated to Burger King, it’s exceedingly far-fetched the older I get.

The lack of realism would be acceptable if the show committed itself to its larger-than-life interests and leaned fully into the melodrama. But there’s the very real sense that this show is trying to be something serious, and considering some of the storylines and the violence women face on the show, including sexual assault and abuse, it makes sense. However, while those darker moments make an impact, they’re surrounded by an inherently silly series that fails to balance the two competing sides of the story. The marriage between coming-of-age drama and mystery is clumsy.

At the very least, Adoration is nice to look at, though the direction is baffling at times. In serious, one-on-one moments between detectives and the teenage characters, the camera abruptly shifts for an unnecessary close-up. While this might be to up the tension to suggest that any of these characters could have a hand in Elena’s disappearance, the result is jarring. The natural beauty of the locale aids the series, but even that is, at times, oversaturated to capture that sunny, coastal aesthetic.

The performances range from fine to forgettable. Megagnini is a blank canvas as a protagonist, though we believe in her affection for her best friend. Puccilli adds some necessary depth to an otherwise frustrating character. And, despite playing one of the least likable characters in the series, Brizzi delivers a strong performance as a character who knows he’s one wrong move away from being seen as a primary suspect. However, despite the heaviness of the main driving force of the story, we never emotionally connect to these characters. Adoration prompts little more than a detached, apathetic viewing experience. Certain elements work, but never enough to excite us to watch more.

With a coastal backdrop that is the perfect setting for a darker story, Adoration is an average, predictable soap opera that needed to lean further into the drama. However, due to unnecessary tonal restraint, muted performances, and a listless script, it never provokes the necessary interest.

Adoration Season 1 is out now on Netflix.