Parents' Guide to

Reverie

By Joyce Slaton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Mild sci-fi drama explores VR with a solid premise.

TV NBC Drama 2018
Reverie Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

See all
age 10+

Based on 1 parent review

Kfoy
Kfoy Parent
July 1, 2018
age 10+

Exitus

Great show for dream and psychology fans.. its a cross between Divergent, Quantum Leap and inception .. played and made for TV. Well done stories and great acting. I liked it right away.

This title has:

Great messages
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

In the virtual reality world known as REVERIE, people can live any life they please. But something's gone wrong: The dream life is too good, and now people are going in and not coming back out. It's up to former hostage negotiator Mara Kint (Sarah Shahi) to use the Reverie system to enter into their fantasies and help them find a way out. Meanwhile, the Department of Defense has an interest in Reverie too, and in its brilliant inventor, Alexis Barrett (Jessica Lu). Is Reverie a way out for people with problems? Or a dangerous way into the conscious mind?

Is It Any Good?

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

It's full of wonky tech and the plot setup is pretty clichéd, but viewers who long for waking wish-fulfillment dreams may be snared by this drama despite all that. In real life, dead people stay dead, everyday life is humdrum, and there aren't enough job openings for aspiring movie stars and sports legends. But in Reverie's VR-enabled flights of fantasy, anything can happen, which lends this often kinda silly show a certain imaginative appeal that recalls Inception.

Reverie also smartly sets up a procedural format that could chug along for a good long time. Shahi's Mara must enter the virtual worlds of those unwilling or unable to exit the program; there can always be another lagger, just the same way there could always be another dead person with a backstory on Six Feet Under or another quirky criminal case on Law & Order. So though sci-fi purists may titter at some of the show's fantasy tech and goofy science-speak, those who can suspend their disbelief will find this better-than-average outing lots of fun, as well as clean enough for family viewing.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about why entering into someone else's dreams or fantasies is a relatively common sci-fi plot. What's appealing about this idea? Why would people want to do this, or why would they not? What would you do if you could go into a virtual world with anyone of your choice?

  • In TV shows with large casts, it's often difficult to introduce audiences to multiple characters at once. How does Reverie signal what characters we should pay most attention to? How does it tell us who characters are and what roles they will play in this drama?

  • What do you think about virtual reality? What are its dangers? Its benefits?

TV Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

See all recommended tv lists

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate