Netflix
The newest series to come to Netflix is the scifi drama Another Life. The show stars Katee Sackhoff of Battlestar Galactica fame, along with Samuel Anderson as William, Blu Hunt as August, Justin Chatwin as Erik Wallace, and more. But is this show safe to watch with the kids? It’s definitely not Lost in Space, but it will be more appropriate than Sense8, that’s for sure. Read on to see what the Parents Guide and advisories say.
In the United States, Another Life is rated TV-MA. TV-MA means the series was designed for mature audiences only and may contain foul language, graphic violence, graphic sexual activity, or a combination of these. It essentially entails that some content in the series might not be suitable for children. Coarse dialogue can sometimes be enough for a series to get this rating.
IMDB’s parents guide goes into more detail about what you might want to watch out for in the series. According to the parents guide, ratings range from mild to moderate to severe.
Sex and nudity is rated mild, depicting male and female “butt nudity” in episode 8 of the season.
Violence and gore is rated moderate.
Profanity is rated as severe, with frequent use of the F-word. So if profanity is concerning to you, this might not be the right show for you.
Alcohol, drugs, and smoking are rated as mild.
“Frightening and intense scenes” gets a mild rating too.
In Argentina, the age rating for this show is 16. In the Netherlands, the age rating is also 16. In South Korea, the age rating is 18. In Singapore, the rating is R21. R21 means that it is strictly for adults 21 and above. “Films under this category are forbidden to be screened in suburban cinemas,” Wikipedia notes.
If you want to get episode-specific, BBFC offers episode-based ratings. Here’s a look at them below:
- Episode 1 has strong language and “injury detail.”
- Episode 2 has strong language.
- Episode 3 has strong language, gore, and bloody images.
- Episode 4 has strong language and violence.
- Episode 5 is noted as having strong language.
- Episode 6 has strong language and injury detail.
- Episode 7 has strong language, violence, and “threat.”
- Episode 8 has strong language, threat, sex, and drug references.
- Episode 9 is noted as having strong language and “brief injury detail.”
On IMDb’s ratings, a lot of viewers weren’t very forgiving of the show. One person wrote: “The basic plot is that there are alien artifacts which landed on Earth and they send a spaceship to check out the source of the alien artifacts. So, how does Earth go about this monumental task? Do they fill their one spaceship with professionals? NO. They fill their spaceship with individuals who are all emotionally compromised and all exhibit signs of severe mental illness. Seriously, the characters all act like preteens trying to solve the case of the missing football or something. It’s painful to watch characters who we assume are Earth’s brightest and best behaving like nutjobs.”
(When I watched the first episode, I agreed that the choice of ship’s crew was odd, but I didn’t find it as harsh as the reviewer above. I thought the first episode was enjoyable to watch.)
Some love the series:
So in general, this isn’t a show for kids like Lost in Space. If you’re a parent, try watching a few episodes first on your own to decide if it’s right for your children.