Sweetpea, Season 1

What’s it about?

Rhiannon Lewis fades into the background – most people pass her by without a second thought. But when she’s finally pushed too far, the quiet bystander vanishes, revealing someone who could be capable of anything... even murder.

The facts 

• Directed by Ella Jones
• Stars Ella Purnell (Fallout, Yellowjackets)
• English language 
• Runtime: 6 episodes, around 40 minutes each 
• Based on the novel Sweetpea by C.J. Skuse

Why did it get this rating? 

This series was self-rated by Neon. You can find out more about self-rating by streaming providers here.

Content that may disturb

After a series of unfortunate events, Rhiannon begins to spiral. She narrates her dark thoughts about killing people for a range of reasons – this is intended to be humourous but is also quite unsettling.

Flashbacks show Rhiannon being bullied when she was younger. This causes her a lot of stress and leads to her pulling her own hair out, to the point where she needs to wear a wig for the rest of her adolescence. 

Offensive language 

Words including f*ck and sh*t are used, mainly by Rhiannon when she feels annoyed or to express anger.

Violence

Rhiannon begins to kill people in fits of rage. There are four murders in total, three of them are quite graphic with lots of blood shown. She uses a switchblade knife to stab them. She claims that most of her victims aren’t actually “victims” as they’re bad people who deserve to die.

A male stranger accidentally urinates on her whilst drunk. After they argue, she stabs him repeatedly in the torso and neck. You see blood gushing from his wounds.

Rhiannon witnesses a character being rude to hospital staff. Later she sees him at a nightclub, follows him outside, and stabs him to death behind a garbage container.

Rhiannon pushes a male from the second story of a building, and he plunges to his death (see more in domestic violence).

A character discovers Rhiannon is the murderer and as he tries to leave her house, she stabs him repeatedly in the torso and neck. Blood gushes out of his wounds, covering most of his body, and you see him losing consciousness in Rhiannon’s arms.

Sex scenes

Two characters have sex fully clothed. This scene is quite drawn out and involves one character being quite rough and biting the other’s lip. They stare intensely at each other until one of them eventually orgasms.

Domestic violence

One of the characters reveals that she’s trapped in an abusive relationship. She talks about her partner’s outbursts including a time when he purposefully slammed her finger in a door, and his emotional abuse. In one scene, you see him lashing out, pushing the female character against a wall with her struggling to break free. Before he can hurt her any further, another character steps in and pushes him from high up, then falling to his death. It’s later said that if he didn’t die, he’d eventually have killed his partner. 

These scenes could be very upsetting for anyone who has been impacted by intimate partner violence. 

Drug references 

Two characters use drugs at a nightclub that make them feel euphoric.

Helplines:

The domestic violence could be upsetting for some viewers, especially for those who have gone through similar experiences. If you are struggling with what you have seen on-screen please reach out for help. If you or someone you know needs to talk:

• Women’s Refuge

Further information 

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?