The Queen's Gambit: parents' guide

Little on-screen violence. The opening shows the aftermath of a fatal car crash, with a bloody body under a sheet, and there are a few rough moments at the orphanage, such as a girl being dragged by the arm.

Strong language recurs from the first episode on: f-words and s-words, a crude sexual slur the orphanage girls use, misuse of God's name, and racial insults traded between the girls.

Several scenes of couples in bed before or after sex as Beth has a few relationships, with no explicit nudity. Orphanage girls talk crudely about sex, and characters are seen in towels, underwear and slips.

Central theme: orphans are given daily tranquilizers, Beth is hooked by age nine, steals pills and overdoses as a child, and as an adult goes on long pill-and-alcohol binges. She also smokes marijuana; her adoptive mother drinks heavily.

Not scary, but emotionally heavy: a mother deliberately crashes her car with her daughter inside, a parent figure dies, and Beth's spirals into addiction and self-destruction are painful to watch.