Series · Thriller, Drama, Crime · 2018 · TV-MA

Elite: parents' guide

17+our pick

Best for ages 17 and up. Rated TV-MA.

A glossy Spanish murder-mystery soap set at an exclusive private school, made for older teens and adults. Each season wraps a crime, often a student's killing, around sex, drugs and rivalries. Sex scenes are frequent and intense, with rear nudity and threesomes, and a later season centers on a girl who is raped at a party while others film her. Students use and deal cocaine, hashish and pills, and storylines include overdoses, suicide attempts, an abusive relationship, a homophobic killing and a school shooting. Frequent f-words in the subtitles and dub. Best for 17 and up.

What's in it

Violence

Strong

Sexual violence: an incapacitated teen girl is raped at a party while others film it, and another girl escapes an attempted rape. People die from blows to the head, a stabbing, a hate-crime beating and a fall, with bloody bodies shown, and a later season has a school shooting.

Language

Strong

Frequent f-words and s-words in the subtitles and dub, along with dick, asshole and hell, obscene gestures, and bigoted insults aimed at a Muslim student.

Sex and nudity

Strong

Sex is constant and more graphic than most teen shows: shower sex with thrusting and male rear nudity, threesomes, sex in public places, a half-sibling affair, a gay hookup app and an HIV storyline. Later seasons keep the same pace with many partners.

Drinking, drugs and smoking

Strong

Drug use is shown throughout: teens smoke hashish and cigarettes, take cocaine and pills, and get sloppy drunk. Students deal drugs at school, two characters overdose, and one storyline follows a girl's addiction and attempt to quit.

Scary or intense scenes

Strong

Sustained dread from murder plots, with the camera lingering on a dead girl's bloody body. A boy attempts suicide, a death is staged as one, a distressed teen hits himself and nearly jumps from a roof, and a father is beaten to death in a hate attack.

Sensitive topics

  • Sexual assault
  • Suicide
  • Self-harm
  • Overdose
  • Addiction
  • Domestic abuse
  • Death of a parent
  • Death of a child
  • Racism
  • Bullying
  • School violence

Worth talking about

Nearly every crime on the show starts with someone protecting their status or a secret. What does Elite say about money, privilege and who actually gets held accountable?

Where to stream →

Similar picks around 17+

Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, Wikipedia. The age is our judgment, not an official rating, and every family draws its lines differently: read the notes, not just the number. Spotted something we missed? Tell us. How we rate.