Jack Thorne Connects LORD OF THE FLIES to Netflix’s ADOLESCENCE and Today’s Crisis Facing Young Boys
Jack Thorne has been spending a lot of time thinking about boys lately, and it turns out two of his biggest projects are talking to each other more than you might expect.
While introducing his adaptation of Lord of the Flies at a past screening, Thorne admitted that the themes from one of his most talked-about series bled directly into Golding’s classic story.
As reported from the event, the writer explained, “A bit of Golding slipped into Adolescence and a bit of Adolescence slipped into Golding.”
Thorne’s Netflix hit Adolescence has become the platform’s second-most watched English-language series of all time, and it doesn’t shy away from exploring the emotional freefall facing young men today.
The same questions sit at the heart of Lord of the Flies, a novel published more than 50 years ago that still hits uncomfortably close to home.
In the BBC show notes, Thorne dug deeper into why this story feels urgent right now. “I think, as a society, we’re having a conversation right now about boys. We’re losing a generation of boys and we’re losing it because of the hate they are ingesting – because it is an answer to their loneliness and isolation.”
That idea of boys searching for connection, and sometimes finding the wrong answers, runs straight through Adolescence. It also fuels Lord of the Flies, which follows a group of boys stranded on an island as their social structures collapse and something far more primal takes over.
Thorne sees more compassion in Golding’s book than it’s often given credit for. “The interesting thing about Lord of the Flies is that, I think, it’s a really loving portrait of boys. When I read it as an adult, I thought of it as a tender portrait of a lot of very complicated boys having a complicated relationship with their status and anger.”
The BBC series marks the first screen adaptation since the 1990 film directed by Harry Hook and starring Balthazar Getty. This time around, the cast is filled with newcomers, including Lox Pratt, who’s also set to appear as Malfoy in HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series.
Between Adolescence and Lord of the Flies, Thorne is clearly circling the same unsettling question from different angles. What happens when boys are left alone with their anger, fear, and hunger for belonging? Decades apart, the answers don’t look all that different, and that’s exactly why this new adaptation feels so timely.
I’m currently in the middle of watching the show, which is now streaming on Netflix, and so far it’s great!
Source: Deadline