Interview With The Vampire Season 2 parents guide: Should your kids take a bite out of this Anne Rice adaptation?

AMC’s Interview with the Vampire, one of the best shows of last year, is finally back for Season 2 on AMC and AMC+. It’s got vampires, it’s got twists and turns, and this season it’s set at a French vampire theater. But even as it continues to be an incredible series, you’re probably going to want to say “no fangs” to showing it to your kids.

You probably know the concept from the books by Anne Rice, or the classic movie adaptation starring Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. But the twist here is that all of that already happened. Years later, Louis (Jacob Anderson), an immortal vampire, once again calls on an older Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian) to recount his experiences with the vampire Lestat (Sam Reid). Only this time, he’s telling the true story of what happened.

…Or is he? Season 1 played with the idea that even with vampire powers, your memory of events can trick you. That’s true of Louis, Daniel, and in Season 2, Louis’s lover Armand (Assad Zaman). It also filters through the diary of child vampire Claudia (Bailey Bass in Season 1, recast with Delainey Hayles in Season 2), who provides a counterpoint to the interviews with the other vampires.

Based on six episodes provided for critics (there are eight total in Season 2), this show is as superb in the second season as it was in the first. No joke, this is one of the best shows on TV right now. But, given all the vampire shenanigans, it’s definitely not appropriate for younger kids. For teens? Read on.

Interview with the Vampire Season 2 Parents Guide: Explaining The TV-MA Age Rating

Interview with the Vampire is rated TV-MA, or 18+ on Prime Video (the show originally aired on AMC and streamed on AMC+). On Prime Video, the content advisory includes “nudity, violence, substance use, alcohol use, smoking, foul language, sexual content.” So yeah, you can see where this is going. However, I will note that Season 2 is relatively more chaste and slow burn than Season 1, at least based on six out of eight episodes.

Sex & Nudity: On the nudity front, while season 1 of IWTV included multiple scenes with both topless women and plenty of naked men, particularly butt nudity, there isn’t any of that in Season 2 (so far). However, there is plenty of sexual content, implied or otherwise. Characters tumble into coffins, and bask in the afterglow of sex, as well as talk about sex on a nearly constant basis by episode. Again, Season 2 is more of a slow burn, and Armand and Louis have a very different, more cerebral relationship than the physical one Louis and Lestat shared in Season 1. But still: lots of sex.

Violence: They’re vampires, so expect a ton of blood-sucking, dripping blood, and people being attacked by the vamps. But again, things are relatively muted compared to Season 1. In the first season violence was graphically, and often hilariously over the top with a man being punched through the head, jaws getting ripped off, and more. In Season 2 things don’t get that bad, but you’ve still got a lot of blood, and a lot of killing, including an extended sequence where multiple humans get graphically impaled or ripped apart. An episode later in the season also includes a half-burnt vampire screaming and writhing in pain, as well as a human being tortured for most of an episode.

Language: This is AMC, so they’re usually limited to one “F” bomb per season. I didn’t personally keep count but there is a fair amount of cursing throughout in all its varieties.

Drinking & Drugs: Yes. Beyond the vampire/drug addiction metaphor, you’ve got a lot of alcohol drinking, and Daniel Molloy does a number of different types of drugs in a flashback.

Overall Verdict: What Age Is Interview with the Vampire Season 2 Appropriate For?

While Interview with the Vampire Season 2 is nowhere near as graphic as the first season, it still more than earns its TV-MA rating. There’s less graphic nudity in Season 2, so if that’s your hold-up and you’ve got vampire-obsessed teens you could treat them to watching an incredible series that breaks down how we remember things and tell stories about ourselves in fascinating ways. But this is definitely not for under 13, and even 15 might be pushing it. 16, 17, and up, you’re probably good to go.

Interview with the Vampire Season 2 is now on AMC+ and will premiere at 9 pm ET on AMC. New episodes roll out weekly.