Parents' Guide to The Lake

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Sexual humor, situations and language such as "slutty," "anal douching," discussions about being a virgin and polyamory, "eye-boning," "saggy balls," and more. One scene has a joke about child porn. A character is called "Whore-reen" and another one is called "Horny."

Language

Swear words and sexual language including "slutty," "eye-boning," "whore," "s--t," "douche," "bitches," "pissing," "goddamn," "a--," "f--k." Racial language such as "Oreo" (a derogatory term referring to a Black person who is deemed to be affiliated with whiteness). Potentially ableist language like "dumb." Foul language like "shart" and exclamatory uses of God, including "Oh God."

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Scenes with drinking, including underage binge drinking. Scenes with drinking humor. Mention of weed.

Products & Purchases

Cheez-Its, Oreos, and pop culture references including When They See Us, Wet Hot American Summer, and Mean Girls.

Positive Messages

Successful family bonding includes utilizing empathy and compassion, especially when it comes to squashing deep emotional rifts.

Positive Role Models

Justin (Jordan Gavaris) and his step-sister Maisy-May (Julia Stiles) are fighting over Justin's family lakehouse, but the real discussion is about Justin feeling left out and unloved by his deceased father, who died before he and Justin could talk about why Justin put his daughter up for adoption. Meanwhile, Justin is rebonding with his daughter Billie (Madison Shamoun). Overall, Justin wants to rebuild his family on both fronts, and while he stumbles, he does his best to make amends.

Billie, on the other hand, shows a lot of responsibility for her young age; she has organized a youth climate conference and is adamant about saving the planet. She is also aware of racial issues and talks openly about prejudices.

Diverse Representations

The main characters represent racial and sexual diversity. Justin and his young step-nephew Opal (Declan Whaley) are both LGBTQ+, with Justin talking about his experiences as a gay man and Opal telling his family his chosen name and pronouns. Billie is a biracial Black young woman. Other people of color on the lake with her include Maisy-May's husband Victor (Terry Chen), and Maisy-May and Victor's children, Killian (Jared Scott) and Opal. Also present as part of the story are Billie's adoptive parents, a Black couple. Most of the rest of the case is White.