Penny Dreadful (2014)

Penny Dreadful parents guide

For a TV-MA, this one goes further: strong sex and nudity. Beyond that, real scares and several jump scares.

Scare

Properly scary

Frightening, not just tense.

Jump scares

Several

More than a couple of sudden jolts.

Gore

Graphic gore

Blood and wounds shown clearly.

Violence

Strong violence

Violence is frequent or intense.

Sex and nudity

Strong

Strong means explicit or repeated sex, extended nudity, or sexual assault shown on screen, attempted or completed, even partly off screen. Any one of these is enough.

Language

Moderate

Some strong profanity, a few f-words.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

Three questions

Is Penny Dreadful scary?

Yes, properly. Penny Dreadful is the real thing without being an endurance test.

How gory is Penny Dreadful?

Graphic gore and strong violence. If graphic gore is a dealbreaker, skip it.

What is Penny Dreadful rated, and is it OK for kids?

Rated TV-MA, and it earns it: real scares, several jump scares, and strong sex and nudity. Not one for kids.

What is Penny Dreadful about?

Some of literature's most terrifying characters, including Dr. Frankenstein, Dorian Gray, and iconic figures from the novel Dracula are lurking in the darkest corners of Victorian London. Penny Dreadful is a frightening psychological thriller that weaves together these classic horror origin stories into a new adult drama.

Cast and crew

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Penny Dreadful is on our Vampires, Ghosts and hauntings, Drama on Paramount+, Sci-fi on Paramount+ and Action on Paramount+ lists.

More like this feeling

Prompts we typed into CouchRot, and the lists that share its tags.

• “a thriller with a twist, no spoilers”
• “a movie that will make me cry”
• “a fun halloween movie, not too scary”

Lists with the same feel: Tearjerkers.