Stranger Things

Stranger Things is excellent television and also a lot more intense than its 80s-kids-on-bikes marketing suggests. Season 1 is the gentlest — supernatural threats, one major character death, some scary monster sequences. By season 4 you're in legitimate horror territory: graphic violence, body horror, on-screen deaths, and themes of mental institutions and abuse. Language: regular mild profanity from the start, ramping up. Romance: kissing, teen relationships, no nudity, mild references to sex by later seasons. Substance use: smoking, beer drinking by teens (portrayed mostly negatively). The 80s nostalgia and friend-group warmth are real, but so are the genuine jump-scares and emotional weight.