Parents' Guide to

Into the Badlands

By Kari Croop, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Fictional future has no guns but runs on sex and violence.

TV AMC Drama 2015
Into the Badlands Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

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age 16+

Based on 5 parent reviews

Kikiowo O.
Kikiowo O. Adult
July 16, 2023
age 18+

Film so great wish a continuation was on

Love the film always wishing for a continuation All negative reviews dropped on the movie can be reduced I wish the movie is back A movie that has a beginning an no ending 😢😭was sad when I heard no more season, hopping there will be a continuation All though the movie was great 👍 best💯👍 an interesting By best film for life(SUNNY BAIJE)
nuenjins
nuenjins Parent
May 30, 2019
age 15+

Impressive Martial Arts choreography has lackluster plot. Too brutal for youngsters.

The plot devices are just backdrops and excuses to create incredibly well done, although sometimes silly, action fight sequences. It starts off OK, but as the series progresses, the main plot point known as "The Gift" is never fleshed out, explained or defined in any way whatsoever. After awhile it becomes so overused that it becomes inconsistant and almost boring. To drag out a one note plot point to no end like this made it tedious to watch later on, even before the last season at times. With this kind of MA talent, it seems it could have been put to way better use with a compelling script that had more to offer. My wife and I hope they don't make more after the second half of season 3, doubt we would watch it unless out of sheer boredom. This is not for pre teens as it is gratuitously violent with alot of blood, gory sounds and body parts, not to mention torture, allusions to rape and other sexual content.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
See all 5 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Set in a postapocalyptic future where guns no longer exist, INTO THE BADLANDS follows seasoned warrior Sunny (Daniel Wu) and the mysterious M.K. (Aramis Knight), a young teen with dark powers and a price on his head, on a shared quest of self-discovery that will change their lives forever. But facing the wrath of two rival Barons (Marton Csokas and Emily Beecham) as they move through the Badlands' seven territories will take every shred of skill they have between them.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (5 ):
Kids say (1 ):

Is it a martial-arts epic? A postapocalyptic western? A fable set in a future that looks curiously like the Old South? Whatever it is, it doesn't really matter: It's all about the fighting anyway. And with that fighting comes blood -- a lot of blood -- sliding Into the Badlands inches away from TV-MA territory without ever technically being there. From Breaking Bad to The Walking Dead, AMC is known for pushing edgy material, and this genre-bending drama is no exception.

Thanks to action scenes staged by acclaimed martial-arts choreographer Ku Huen Chiu (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), Into the Badlands has authentic Hong Kong-style kung fu credentials, and it's doing something unique by bringing a serial martial-arts drama to the small screen. But the target audience here is admittedly small --and it probably shouldn't include your kids.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Into the Badlands' fight scenes and how the visuals compare to those of other TV dramas. Is the show aiming for realism, fantasy, or something in between? How much blood is too much, and where should networks draw the line when it comes to violence?

  • How do women in In the Badlands measure up to men in terms of political power and physical strength, and how do the female characters rate as role models? Are the Badlands' fictional power and social structure radically different from that of the world we live in?

  • How does Into the Badlands tie its fictional world to the historical realities of Southern culture and slavery? Which similarities do you see, and is there any significance?

TV Details

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