Witless TV show with lots of adult content lacks charm.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Sex, Romance & Nudity
a lot
Sexual content is frequent and includes scenes of masturbation (we see a woman's hand moving suggestively beneath her dress; she chokes herself with the other hand). We see a selfie taken of a woman with semen on her face. A character wears very scanty and clingy revealing clothing; we see her breasts and bare buttocks as she poses for an album cover. Sexual talk can be explicit, with discussions of oral sex, anal sex, group sex, and more.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.
Jocelyn smokes cigarettes in many scenes, and frequently drinks to excess. Characters urge each other to do shots, and get drunk and sloppy. Tedros snorts white powder then spits and coughs before seemingly gathering courage to do something.
Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.
Positive messages are cautionary ones: Don't let others control your life; set and keep boundaries.
Positive Role Models
none
There are no upstanding characters here. Everyone has an agenda and selfish motivations.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that The Idol is a series about a pop star who becomes involved with a duplicitous man who sets himself up as her guru. Mature content is frequent, including sex, drinking, drugs, and language. Sexuality includes scenes of a woman masturbating (we see her hands moving suggestively as she chokes herself with the other hand), and frequent sex with the camera lingering on body parts (we don't see private parts), moaning, and rhythmic movements. A character is seen in a selfie with semen on her face. In non-sexual moments we see a woman's bare breasts and buttocks (she poses for an album cover); in many scenes she wears very scanty and clingy outfits. Characters smoke cigarettes and drink to the point of sloppiness, including many scenes in which they urge each other to do shots. In one scene, a man snorts white powder, then coughs and spits. Frequent language includes "f--king," "f--k," "s--t," as well as words connected with sex and bodies: "t-ts," "cum," "d--k." The overall mood is downbeat, and this series is generally filled with unpleasant characters and cautionary messages.
This movie is a lot, but teenagers can't help but be fascinated with it because it is about a pop star and kids are already exposed to worse things like school, social media, etc. Nudity is always something that you can skip thru. If you are a fan of Abel Tesfaye (The Weekend ) it makes since why a teen would want to watch it. This is for mature teens who can handle mature things.
The idol is a mature movie , but maturity isn't from age but the level of maturity that a child has. If your child is a fan of the weekend I think it's alright if you are a teenager and watch it just with the nudity you can always skip it. I don't think teenagers can't help but be fascinated with the idol because it is about celebrities and glamour and we live in a society where kids are hearing about crude things on the internet and at school
What's the Story?
Created by Sam Levinson (Euphoria), THE IDOL stars Lily Rose-Depp as Jocelyn, a Britney Spears-like pop star staging a comeback after a few rough years. She doesn't trust her management, she doesn't like her new single, and she doesn't hold much hope for the direction her life and career is going. And then she meets Tedros (The Weeknd). Now she has someone new to live for…but is this relationship a positive move, or hastening her slide?
This series is clearly reaching for Euphoria's attention-grabbing hot-mess levels, but the characters aren't finely drawn enough to make them interesting. Or possibly The Idol's actors aren't skilled enough to put the nuances their characters should have across. Because though Lily Rose-Depp is gorgeous to look at, she's also blank; we don't know what demons drive her into the treacherous arms of Tedros. We're meant to understand all we need to know through dialogue like "When you're famous, everyone lies to you," but the train isn't going all the way to the station.
Similarly, The Weeknd doesn't show enough charisma on-screen to make him a viable candidate for "irresistible guru," nor do we feel the chemistry with Jocelyn that might explain her attraction. So the more showy elements of the show -- drinking, drugs, sex, and betrayal -- all wind up feeling empty. The Idol is trying too hard to impress us with its coolness, when what it could really use is a shot of sincerity. Despite the buzzy cast and connections to hits, The Idol fails to win fans.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about whether it's OK to show sex, drinking, and drug use on television. Do shows like The Idol present a realistic view of life, or is anything exaggerated for entertainment? What would the real-life consequences of the characters' behavior be?
The Idol contains sexual images, as well as nudity. How often is the nudity related to sex and how often is it nonsexual -- e.g., people bathing or changing? Does it matter?
Do you know anyone struggling with drug abuse or addiction? What are the challenges they might face? What are some resources you know of that could be helpful?
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.
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.
By Joyce Slaton
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
