Preteen girl looking at a cell phone with her parents

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Parents' Guide to

Baby

By Joyce Slaton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Teen sex work is just one plotline in seamy Italian soap.

TV Netflix Drama 2018
Baby Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

age 16+

Based on 4 parent reviews

age 18+

Adult Scenes

A really good series but definitely not for under 18s. Underage prostitution, drinking and drugs.
age 14+

Worth the watch

I believe as long as your child isn’t influenced easily the show is great. Not really much educational value but nothing really bad that makes it inappropriate for 13-14 + viewers . There’s a good plot and a few positive role models, it’s obviously very far fetched from what a teens life is actually like but that’s why I believe the show is fine for teenage viewers since you can tell it’s fictional and unrealistic.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (4 ):
Kids say (7 ):

Glossy, seamy, and yet less exploitative than viewers might assume upon hearing it's (loosely) based on a real-life underage sex work scandal, this drama is an odd yet interesting mix of genres. On the one hand, Baby's premise lends the production a major whiff of drive-in movie trash; on the other, that particular plotline is downplayed in favor of more generic teens-in-trouble materials: romantic complications, mean kids at school, parents who just don't understand. This tilts the drama more in the direction of teen soaps like Riverdale, Gossip Girl, or even fellow Netflix foreign-language privileged-kids potboiler Elite.

In fact, Chiara and Ludo are never even seen plying the trade that they're ever-so-slightly involved in. We see Ludo on one awkward dinner date with an older schlubby guy, and lots of scenes of the pair of them gyrating in brief outfits in clubs while skeevy older guys talk about the pile of money the teens will make them. Meanwhile, outside of the sex work angle, the trials and tribulations of this particular set of rich-and-beautiful teens is decently intriguing even if you've seen it before -- the show's Italian heritage lends it intriguing differences from its American cousins. Who are these Euro teens who smoke, club all night, and have parents who barely notice their existence, except to pass a croissant and espresso to at breakfast? Spending a few hours in their presence isn't earth-shaking, but it is interesting.

TV Details

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