Parents' Guide to

The Hollow

By Joyce Slaton, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

Mystical animated series plays like "Lost" for tweens.

TV Netflix Drama 2018
The Hollow Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

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age 9+

Based on 21 parent reviews

bil9l
bil9l Adult
January 25, 2022
age 11+

No positive role model

The show is rated TV-Y7 which is misleading. first of all there's no positive models in this show. the characters are obnoxious and the content is unappropriated for kids .

This title has:

Too much violence
1 person found this helpful.
da zink27
da zink27 Adult
June 7, 2020
age 10+

A Family Friendly Show that Asks More Questions than it Answers

The Hollow is a show currently featuring 20 episodes over two seasons. The show follows Adam, Mira, and Kai who wake up to find themselves alone in a bunker without any memories. The trio must escape their prison and discover themselves as they overcome challenges together. The character development between the protagonists is pretty great, and the second season focuses more on how the team overcomes grudges with others and each other. The show focuses on teamwork and discovering strengths to overcome challenges as well as forming bonds. Personally, I didn't like the entire first season. There were too many cliches' like waking up without memories and the fact that entire thing was a simulation, to name two. The first season posed many questions that were not answered until episode seven or eight; which is unacceptable when there are only ten episodes in a season. I was so fustrated that I almost walked away at that point from the series, but I decided to give the show one more chance for the second season. I loved the second season. It continues to build on the character development from the first while giving the characters backstory and depth, especially for Mira and Adam. You can tell that the characters are changing and growing. The story remains very PG and definitely worth it's rating. The music is really good, and the visuals are colorful when they need to be and bland when they need to be. There is violence, but nothing that compares to the Pokémon tv shows. The only thing is that in Season two, Episode one there is a reference to homosexuality, as well as one of the protagonists straight up saying "Kai, I am gay." As of season two, these are the only references to homosexuality in the entire series. I am not homophobic, but I personally feel that homosexuality or even references to homosexuality shouldn't be in tv shows rated for kids ages seven or younger. Overall, I would say go for it! This show is worth a try!

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
1 person found this helpful.
See all 21 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In the opening moments of Netflix's animated drama THE HOLLOW, Adam (Adrian Petriw), Mira (Ashleigh Ball), and Kai (Connor Parnall) awaken in a featureless bunker, with no memory of how they got there. But since poison gas is soon seeping into the room, they don't exactly have time to figure it out. Now they're trapped in a mysterious world where everyone and everything seems to want them dead. Can they pull together and solve the mysteries of who they are, how they got here -- and how they're going to get out?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (21):
Kids say (40):

The opening credits, with creepy tinkly piano and a swirl of autumn leaves, sets a tone that never lets up in this thrilling animated series that reads like Lost for the tween set. Mira, Kai, and Adam are trapped in a world that's not just dangerous, it's interestingly creepy, staffed as it is with man-eating Minotaurs, chirpy aproned housewives who abruptly transform into terrifying witches, and a purple-faced prepster-demon who seems to have a vested interest in slowing their progression through the nightmare realm.

"Are we dead?" Adam wonders, then, when he comes across a rack of scientific vials in some creepy cabin in a forbidding woods. "Are we someone's experiment?" Unclear. And as the mystery deepens, the kind of kid who's maybe just a little too young for Stranger Things is just the right age for this appealingly weird series. And parents who have an appreciation for the dark and puzzling may be pulled into watching The Hollow, too.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about setting. Stranding a set of characters in a strange and frightening place is a staple of horror and sci-fi. What movies or TV shows does The Hollow remind you of?

  • Animation makes it easy to picture things that are difficult to show with live action. What kinds of things does The Hollow depict that are easier to show as animation? Are there any drawbacks to animated shows?

  • How do Mira, Kai, and Adam demonstrate courage and teamwork when overcoming obstacles that prevent them from escaping? Why are these important character strengths?

TV Details

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