Parents' Guide to In From The Cold

TV Netflix Action 2022
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Common Sense Media Review

Melissa Camacho By Melissa Camacho , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 15+

Absurd spy fiction series has violence, nudity, cursing.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 15+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 16+

Based on 1 parent review

age 17+

Based on 1 kid review

What's the Story?

IN FROM THE COLD is an action thriller about a Russian sleeper spy recruited by the CIA to thwart an insidious plot in Spain. When American single mom Jenny Franklin (Margarita Levieva) arrives with her daughter Becca (Lydia Fleming) at Madrid for an ice skating competition, she is unexpectedly confronted by Chauncy Lew (Cillian O'Sullivan), a CIA operative who had been tracking the whereabouts of Anya, a unique Russian spy known in the 1990s as "The Whisperer." Now exposed, Jenny, a.k.a. Anya, is being forced to come out of retirement to investigate a series of strange, violent events around the city. But returning to a former life of espionage is not easy, especially when it requires her to use a unique set of transformative skills that is putting a major strain on her body. But Agent Lew hasn't given her a choice, so she must find a way to do the job, while juggling her role as a mom.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 1 ):
Kids say ( 1 ):

The absurd spy fiction series features a combination of family drama and science fiction-like plot lines that are hard to take seriously. There's some effort to give the story some substance by using flashbacks to reveal what the younger Anya (played by Stasya Miloslavskaya) was like in Moscow in the '90s, and how she navigated her personal life while functioning as a special Russian operative. These scenes heighten the interest, but fail to offer the fictional universe enough credibility to make it worth suspending your belief. In From The Cold does have one thing going for it -- the pace of the action, which offers enough twists, turns, and fight sequences to keep it mildly entertaining. For some, this will be enough to make it worth the watch. For others, not so much.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about spy-themed films and TV series. Why do audiences find them so entertaining? Is the craft of espionage as glamorous, high-tech, or dangerous as they make it out to be?

  • Media that combines spy narratives with elements of science fiction is often referred to as "spy-fi." How well does In From The Cold fit into this category? Does it do a good job of mixing the two types of stories?

TV Details

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