Parents' Guide to Surviving Death

Surviving Death Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

Marty Brown By Marty Brown , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 13+

Shallow docuseries explores the afterlife, grief.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 13+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 8+

Based on 1 kid review

What's the Story?

SURVIVING DEATH is a documentary series that explores various ideas around life after death. Each episode focuses on a different way that people try to engage with the afterlife, from paranormal communication with the dead to the belief in resurrection to surviving near-death experiences.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say : Not yet rated
Kids say ( 1 ):

Netflix has mastered the art of creating documentaries that feel substantial without actually providing insight, deep research, or a point-of-view. In other words, a lot of Netflix documentaries feel educational but are really more valuable as entertainment. Surviving Death is a perfect example of this. It features a lot of compelling footage of people interacting with what they believe is the afterlife, but it's likely that viewers with even a vague familiarity with things like seances or resurrection will come away with a deeper understanding. The topics are interesting, but each episode is a failed opportunity to explore them in a deeper way scientifically, culturally, or spiritually.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the afterlife. What are your beliefs about life after death? How did you form these beliefs? How do they inform your day-to-day life?

  • Do the people in the documentary believe in life after death? Why or why not? What shaped their beliefs? How do those beliefs affect their lives?

  • Why do people want to speak to the dead? How do they go about it in this documentary? How do these methods help them process grief?

TV Details

  • Premiere date : January 6, 2021
  • Network : Netflix
  • Genre : Educational
  • TV rating : TV-MA
  • Last updated : August 16, 2021

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

Surviving Death Poster Image

What to Watch Next

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