East of Eden
NZ release: 01 October 2026
Sex scenes Rated on: 01 October 2026
Episodes 1 to 3
What’s it about?
Set across five decades, from the post-Civil War era to World War I, the story follows the Trask family in California's Salinas Valley – and the impact of mysterious Cathy Ames on their legacy.
The facts
- Created by Zoe Kazan
- Written by Zoe Kazan and Alexander Chee
- Directed by Garth Davis (Top of the Lake) and Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre
- Starring Florence Pugh (We Live in Time), Christopher Abbott (Wolf Man), Mike Faist (Challengers), Hoon Lee (Your Friends & Neighbours), Ciarán Hinds (Belfast), Martha Plimpton (Task), Tracey Letts (Little Women), Joseph Zada, and Joe Anders (Cape Fear)
- English language
- Runtime: Seven episodes that are around 60 minutes each
- An adaptation of the classic novel by John Steinbeck
Why did it get this rating?
This limited series was self-rated by Netflix. You can find out more about self-rating by streaming providers here.
The following content warnings relate to the first three episodes only.
Sex scenes
There are multiple sex scenes involving thrusting, vocalisations, and climaxing. We see bare breasts.
Violence
In the first three episodes, the strongest violence includes:
- We see a character being severely beaten. We see their bloodied and swollen face, broken skull and broken arm resulting from this.
- We see child characters being beaten by their parents.
Content that may disturb
- A character murders their parents by burning them alive inside the family home.
- A character is shown trying to abort her pregnancy with a knitting needle, causing her to pass out from blood loss.
- We hear of the suicide of a character off-screen.
- Racial slurs are used and racist attitudes are shown towards Indigenous and Chinese peoples.
When content stays with you
We all have our boundaries, and it’s completely okay if something you’ve watched is weighing on your mind. If certain content lingers with you, consider having a chat with friends or whānau to debrief about what you’ve just seen. But if you’re still feeling affected, please reach out to any of the following helplines for support.
Further information
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