Untamed

What’s it about?

Set in Yosemite National Park, Special Agent Kyle turner and rookie Ranger Naya Vasquez investigate the suspicious death of a woman who was discovered after she fell from the summit of El Capitan and became tangled in the safety ropes of two climbers below. As the case unfolds, buried secrets and personal trauma come to the surface.

The facts

• Created by Mark L. Smith and Elle Smith
• Starring Eric Bana (Troy), Sam Neill (Jurassic Park), Rosemarie DeWitt (La La Land)
• English language
• Runtime: 6 episodes which are approximately 51 minutes each

Why did it get this rating?

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

Graphic violence

The violence in the series includes bloody injury detail, gun violence and physical altercations. There are close ups of bloody wounds which some viewers may find uncomfortable. The strongest scenes include:

• A body falls from summit and becomes tangled in the safety ropes of two climbers. The body is covered in wounds and blood, including severe slash wounds on the thigh.
• Multiple characters are shot including in the chest and in the leg. Injuries show a lot of blood.
• Brain matter (although this looks more like blood) and a jaw with teeth are discovered before finding a decomposing body.
• A character is strangled with a wire after he hops into a car by a masked person who was hidden in the backseat. His body is later discovered in a river.
• A horse is shot offscreen.
• A man attacks a woman and tries to strangle her. She later is shown with red marks on her neck.

Suicide 

Suicide is a recurring thread in Untamed, explored through themes of grief, accountability, masculinity, and institutional failure. Three key characters show how the weight of trauma can manifest in different ways.

• Kyle, still reeling from the abduction and murder of his young son in a national park, is emotionally shut down and clearly struggling with his mental health. He drinks heavily, speaks openly about wanting to end his life, but by the end of the series, there are signs he’s moving toward a healthier, more hopeful place.
• Kyle’s ex-wife also carries the deep grief of losing their son. Though she appears to have rebuilt her life she later attempts to take her own life by overdosing on pills. While the act is not shown onscreen, a raw conversation follows in which Kyle tells her she can’t “beat him to it,” because if he dies afterward, it will just look like he was copying her.
• A character is revealed to have fathered a child during an affair—the child was sent away after the mother died. When this secret surfaces,  the character is consumed by guilt and fear of exposure. In a dramatic final twist, he dies by suicide. The act happens offscreen—we hear the gunshot, and later see his body in the river.

Family violence

Naya is shown to be living in fear of her ex-partner, who stalks her and her son, sends threatening messages, and is implied to have been abusive in the past. In one tense scene, Naya and her son quietly climb out of a bathroom window and flee to Kyle’s house, indicating the ongoing threat he poses.

There are also references to a young girl who was physically abused by her father. While no violence is shown onscreen, other characters mention her being beaten, and it's later revealed that she was placed in a group home where children were allegedly kept in the basement and not fed properly. In another conversation, a character implies that the children may have experienced additional forms of abuse, though the specifics remain deliberately vague.

When content stays with you:

The suicide and family violence themes 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:

• 1737
• Safe to talk
• Lifeline
• Youthline

Further information:

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