What You Actually Need to Know Before Watching Dangerous Lies With Your Kids
Dangerous Lies is a 2020 thriller film starring Jordana Brewster and Luke Baines. It plays out like most Netflix made-for-streaming mysteries: someone dies under suspicious circumstances, another person shows up with secrets, and everyone involved is less than honest. For parents trying to figure out whether this is appropriate, the short answer is that it falls into the teenage drama-thriller space with some mature content you should be aware of before pressing play. The film is rated TV-PG by the MPAA equivalent for streaming content, which means parental guidance is suggested. Here is what is actually in the movie and how it breaks down in practice. There is a body discovery early on. A character is found dead, though the graphicness is mild by thriller standards. The cinematography doesn't dwell on gore. There are scenes of struggle and a car crash sequence that creates tension without showing much blood. Most kids will find the suspense aspects intense enough without needing to worry about explicit violent imagery. The emotional violence — lying, manipulation, betrayal — runs heavier than the physical stuff.
There is a married couple relationship at the center of the plot, and a male character is shirtless in several scenes. One scene involves a couple in a bedroom setting with implied sexual activity, though nothing explicit is shown. No nudity beyond that. Some kissing and romantic tension throughout. This is not the most problematic area of the film but it does exist. The profanity level is moderate. You will hear words like "shit" and "ass" used a few times. No heavy F-bombs. Language-wise this is on the lighter end of what you encounter in mainstream streaming thrillers aimed at a broad audience. There are social drinking scenes. Characters are shown with wine and cocktails at dinner parties and gatherings. No drug use is depicted. This is the kind of background adult behavior you see in basically every adult-oriented show or movie.
I watched this with my nephew when my sister asked me to help decide if it was okay. The movie's runtime is about an hour and forty minutes, which made it feel like a low-commitment test run. What caught me off guard was the emotional maturity of the plot. The themes around betrayal and deception are actually more complex than the surface-level mystery suggests. My nephew was asking a lot of questions mid-movie about why people were lying to each other, which told me right then that the content was hitting above his head emotionally even if the screen violence was minimal. The workaround was straightforward. We paused after the first act, I gave him a quick summary of what was actually happening with the characters, and we continued. He handled it better once he understood the context. Don't just throw it on and assume the lack of gore means there is nothing to discuss.
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Age Recommendation Reality Check
Most parenting resource sites land on ages twelve and up for this one. I would say that is roughly fair but it depends heavily on the individual child. A mature twelve-year-old who handles suspense well might be fine. A sensitive eleven-year-old could have trouble with the themes of marital infidelity and murder mystery framing even if the visual content is light. Here is the thing people miss: the MPAA-style rating system was not really built for streaming content. TV-PG means "parents strongly cautioned," which is intentionally vague. The actual content in Dangerous Lies is lighter than many TV-PG rated television episodes. It sits somewhere between a basic cable movie and a mid-tier streaming thriller in terms of intensity. If your kid watches something like Pretty Little Liars or similar teen mysteries, this is considerably milder in every measurable category.
Common Pitfalls Parents Run Into
The biggest mistake I see is assuming that because a movie has no explicit content it is automatically fine for younger viewers. The narrative structure of Dangerous Lies requires you to stay engaged to understand what is going on. Kids under ten or so will likely get confused and bored, which is fine, but they might also catch fragments of dialogue or tense situations that register as scary without the context to process them properly. The mystery plot assumes an audience that can follow red herrings and unreliable narrators. Another issue is the soundtrack and editing choices. The tension-building music and jump-scare-adjacent editing moments can startle younger viewers even during otherwise safe scenes. I noticed my nephew flinch during a couple of moments where the score dropped and a door creaked. It is not horror, but it borrows from the horror toolkit when it needs atmosphere.
Alternatives if This Doesn't Fit
If the marital betrayal storyline is a dealbreaker for your family, you might consider lighter mystery options. Enola Holmes on Netflix has mystery elements without the mature relationship drama. For a similarly paced but cleaner watch, some of the older Disney Channel Mystery Movies from the early two thousand era still hold up and skip all the mature content entirely. If you want something closer to the thriller genre but age-appropriate, the Scooby-Doo live-action films are silly but structurally similar in their mystery format.
Where to Watch It
Dangerous Lies is available on Netflix in most regions. It was a Netflix original release so you will not find it on other major streaming platforms. There is no theatrical re-release or physical media option that makes sense to track down. If you already have a Netflix subscription this is just a matter of searching and pressing play. Check your local Netflix listing since availability can shift slightly depending on your region and licensing agreements.
Bottom Line
This is a lightweight mystery thriller with a TV-PG level content profile. The violence is mild, the language is moderate, and the sexual content is brief and non-explicit. The real consideration is emotional maturity and the ability to handle themes of deception and betrayal. It is not a film that needs to be hidden, but it is not a casual preschool viewing either. Pick an age around twelve as a baseline, know your kid, and use the pause button if something comes up that needs a conversation. The movie itself is not controversial by modern streaming standards, but it is not designed for young children just because it lacks graphic content.
