Killing Eve, the beloved, critically acclaimed AMC hit starring Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh hit Netflix on April 15, and is quickly climbing up the streamer’s Top 10 chart. You can probably tell from the title – the “killing” part is right there – but this twisty, darkly comic spy series is not for the children. But how bad does it really get? Read on.
In the series, Oh plays Eve, an intelligence agent who gets entangled in every sense of the word with the merciless contract killer Villanelle, played by Comer. Over the course of four seasons, the duo flirt, hurt, and generally ruin each other’s lives, as well as the lives of pretty much everyone around them.
The series has also had some big talent behind the scenes: Phoebe Waller-Bridge of Fleabag created the first season, Emerald Fennell of Saltburn and Promising Young Woman took on the (controversial) second season, and more.
Full disclosure: I was obsessed with this show, and if you start it, you will be too. Not all seasons are made equal, and the ending basically sent the fanbase for the show into a tailspin. But at eight episodes per season this is a pretty quick and easy binge. You’ll quickly discover why Oh and Comer were nominated for, and won, multiple awards for this series.
That out of the way, let’s get into the content, and whether this spy series should enter your kids’ queues.
Killing Eve Parents Guide: Explaining The TV-MA Age Rating
Killing Eve is rated TV-MA on Netflix for “sex, smoking, violence.” Boy are they underplaying that! While this is an AMC series, so it’s basic cable with all the restrictions that does or does not imply, Killing Eve definitely pushes things to the limit.
Sex & Nudity: There’s no nudity on this show (see above re: basic cable). However, and this is somewhat getting into spoilers, there is an intense sexual and romantic tension between Eve and Villanelle that builds over the course of the four seasons. There are definitely your regular “fall into bed, cut to black” sex scenes. But you also get a lot of sexual innuendo and outright discussions of sex. Various characters do have bra-on sex on screen. One time, two characters take a bubble bath together. It’s not the focus, but this is a sexy show, and the sex is intertwined with the violence, making it all the more complicated.
Violence: Yeah, this is where the rating comes from. Stabbings, shootings, decapitations, and pretty explicit for basic cable killings. If you’ve seen other AMC shows like The Walking Dead or Breaking Bad you know the network doesn’t shy away from violence. Add Killing Eve to the pile there. I’ll also add a trigger warning for the later seasons as there are scenes of self-harm.
Language: Yes. AMC generally allows one unbleeped F-bomb per season on a show, but we’re on Netflix, baby, so it’s all uncensored. Pretty much every curse you can think of gets uttered. These are, after all, spies dealing with some pretty bloody messes.
Drinking & Drugs: Yes. There’s drinking throughout as again, these are adult spies. Particularly Eve starts hitting the sauce pretty hard the worse things get. There is drug use throughout, though mostly of the alcohol or smoking variety.
Overall Verdict: What Age Is Killing Eve Appropriate For?
While this show definitely deserves the TV-MA rating for the violence and dark subject matter alone, I would not stop a more mature teen who doesn’t mind complicated spy shows from watching this series. You may have to have some conversations about love and obsession in particular with those around, say, 14 or so. But plenty of teens launched a thousand Tumblr blogs and AO3 fanfics about this series, so who am I to gatekeep here? Younger than 13 or 14, I would not recommend this. Older than that? Use your best parenting intuition, folks.