Lake Mungo: parents' guide
Best for ages 16 and up. Rated R for a scene of sexuality, and brief gruesome images.
A slow, sorrowful mock-documentary ghost story for older teens who prefer unsettling grief to jump scares. After a 16-year-old girl drowns, her family starts seeing signs of her in photos and videos and uncovers secrets she kept. There is no real violence, but parents should know that a grainy home video shows the teen in a sexual encounter with the adult couple next door, which the film treats as exploitation. Brief images of her drowned, disfigured body and one late phone clip are deeply creepy. We suggest 16, mainly for that tape and the raw grief.
What's in it
Violence
MildNo fights or attacks. The drowning happens off screen, but the girl's bloated body is glimpsed in photos and footage, and her brother turns up with unexplained bruises.
Language
MildNeither the US nor the UK rating cites language, and plot sources mention none. The interviews are calm and reflective; expect little if any cursing.
Sex and nudity
ModerateA brief, grainy home video shows the 16-year-old in a sexual encounter with the married adult couple next door, whose children she babysat. UK raters called it strong sex. The film treats it as a damaging secret, and the family weighs legal action.
Drinking, drugs and smoking
NoneNo drinking or drug use is flagged by rating boards or mentioned in plot sources.
Scary or intense scenes
StrongDread builds through grainy photos and videos with a faint figure hidden in the frame. A late phone clip, filmed at night by a remote lake, holds the film's most disturbing image, and the family's grief is raw throughout.
Sensitive topics
- Death of a child
- Child abuse
Worth talking about
Alice kept serious secrets from everyone who loved her. Talk about why teens hide things from family, and which secrets are too heavy to carry alone.
On our lists
Similar picks around 16+
Checked October 13th, 2026 against Wikipedia, the MPA, bbfc.co.uk, Rotten Tomatoes. 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.