• Is it age appropriate?

  About our ratings

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  Not age appropriate for kids under 16, age appropriate for kids over 18; suggested age 16.

• Is it any good?

  3.0

• Common Sense says

  Dark tale of betrayal and fixation isn't for kids.

Why We Rated This for Ages 16–18

What to watch out for

• Messages:

  A teacher has an affair with her 15-year-old student; an older teacher manipulates the younger teacher -- both betray each another and those around them; both are also self-deluding, though one comes to understand herself more deeply.
• Violence:

  Fighting between two male students; Steven's mother slaps Sheba; hectic scene with press "thronging" Sheba outside her home (she cries, the camerawork is frantic); Barbara and Sheba fight (slapping, falling into furniture, crying).
• Sex:

  Sheba and Steven appear partly unclothed (most images are discreet or dark, but plain about their sexual acts) in a couple of scenes; some cleavage shots; some kissing; sexual slang, allusions, and references ("wank mags," "porno," "c--t," "t-ts," "dick," "f--k"). A major storyline is one female character's obssessive crush on another.
• Language:

  At least 15 uses of "f--k," as well as other language, like "s--t," "hell," "bollocks," "bastard," and sexual slang (including "dick," "t--s," and "c--t"); some name-calling ("fatty," granny," "pig," "tart"), as well as some Britishisms ("wank," "arse," "sod-all").
• Consumerism:

  Nokia cell phone.
• Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

  Characters drink (wine and beer) on multiple occasions, sometimes to drunkenness; Barbara smokes cigarettes repeatedly; Steven smokes a few times; a girl (Sheba's stepdaughter) smokes once; reference to "crack cocaine" background characters smoke and drink in bars.

What Parents Need to Know

About Notes on a Scandal

Families Can Talk About