THE WATERFRONT: 1.1 and 1-2
Gorgeous filmmaking, rotten content — this family drama isn't worth the wade.
Should You Watch It?
THE WATERFRONT is genuinely well made — the cinematography, acting, and storytelling in its first two episodes are excellent, and the writing is sharper than most shows in its genre. Kevin Williamson's take on family collapse, a kind of "beach bum Yellowstone," even includes one character with a real moral compass, giving it a better shot at redemption than something like Breaking Bad.
But craft isn't the whole verdict. The Buckley family's unraveling comes wrapped in a point-blank execution, a body fed to alligators, fully explicit sex scenes, nudity, and profanity that piles up fast across just two episodes. Almost every character operates on pure self-interest, chasing money and pleasure with little pushback.
Movieguide's content rating lands at −3 — extreme caution — and that number doesn't move for good filmmaking. This is a well-built show pointed in the wrong direction. Skip it.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESThe Buckley family has run Havenport, North Carolina's fishing business for generations — marina, restaurant, and reputation all riding on the family name. But the empire is sinking. When Cane, son of patriarch Harlan, starts looking for fast money to keep it afloat, he finds it in dangerous places. Word gets out. Sides get chosen. What's left of the family has to decide what they're willing to lose to save what's left of the business.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means this is a handsomely made show. The cinematography, performances, and storytelling in the first two episodes are excellent, and the coastal setting does real work, giving the series its own scorched-earth, sea-breeze identity rather than just borrowing Yellowstone's dust. Kevin Williamson's writing is peppered with foul language but noticeably more restrained than comparable shows in the crime-family genre, and the presence of at least one character with a working moral compass keeps the opening episodes from feeling like a total moral vacuum. It's the kind of craft that makes the content harder to excuse, not easier — a well-told story about people with almost nothing to root for.
The Worldview
THE WATERFRONT runs on Romanticism: characters chasing pleasure and self-interest with little sense of consequence beyond what eventually catches up with them. The patriarch's infidelity, the son's drug running, the family's willingness to break the law to protect their wealth — all of it plays out under the assumption that desire is its own justification. There's only a slight possibility of a biblical moral element here, carried mostly by one daughter who seems genuinely troubled by what her family has become.
That's a thin thread to hang a season on. Scripture is blunt about where this road leads: "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils, and it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs" (1 Timothy 6:10). The Buckleys are living proof of that verse, even if the show never names it as sin.
What the series does understand is the ache underneath — a family trying to hold onto something, a business, a name, each other, while tearing itself apart to keep it. That longing for belonging is real. But the show offers no real path back to it, only more compromise. Scripture points to sturdier ground: "Life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions" (Luke 12:15).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
Romantic worldview, with a slight possibility of a biblical moral element with close family dynamics. Most of the characters act on the pleasure principle, driven by overtly selfish motives. The patriarch sleeps around and only steps back in when things go south, using a strong-arm approach until he runs into a bigger fish. The son works with drug dealers to earn money and restore the family's fortunes. Both father and son eventually become drug runners trying to dig themselves out of a deep, dark hole they dug for themselves
Foul Language
Episode 1: 12 strong profanities (including the “s’ word, the “f word), 3 light profanities (including “a” word, “‘Gd” word, “ah” word) , and 7 obscenities. Episode 2: 21 strong profanities, 7 light profanities 5 obscenities (Jesus and the Lord’s name taken in vain)
Violence
Episode 1: Two men are knocked out with gun stocks and one is wrapped in a fishing net and thrown into the sea (the scene cuts but it is shortly revealed that both men drowned); a policeman pulls his sidearm and shoots a man in the head at point blank range (impact is shown and bloody chunks fly everywhere and the head wound is later shown with lots of blood flow); two men take a dead body to a bayou and feed it to alligators (no munching shown). Episode 2: A waterlogged and gray dead body wrapped in fish nets is picked up by a rescue crew (some disturbing shots of the dead man’s face); a man is hit in the head with a rifle (some blood is shown); a man slugs another knocking him down (impact shown and some blood in mouth)
Sex
Episode 1: A man is shown waking up in bed with a woman other than his wife (he is seen shirtless and she is splayed on the bed in panties and a loose shirt); a man knocks his son down with a punch and then kicks him (no blood); men dunk a man’s head in shark infested waters (no shark bites take place). Episode 2: A man and a woman have sex in his apartment both totally naked (he pins her against the wall and thrusts, while both moan as they climax); a woman has an affair with a client; it is clear that a man has had many extramarital affairs
Nudity
Episode 1: A man strips to show he’s not wearing a wire (upper male nudity with quick shots of legs and buttock). Episode 2: A man and a woman have sex in his apartment both totally naked (male back, buttocks, and legs and female sides and legs exposed)
Alcohol Use
A lot of drinking with multiple people getting tipsy, tight, or drunk in multiple situations
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
A few scenes of smoking; drug smuggling is a key part of the plot; drugs are shown in a shack and multiple people are involved with illegal transport; a man admits to helping drug smugglers and taking a percentage of the profits; a man admits to being a “recovering heroin addict”; a man says he overdosed on heroin; two people eat some gummies that clearly have illicit substances in them:
Miscellaneous Immorality
Characters lie, are deceitful, murder, and commit crimes of every description abound.
Talk About It
Four questions for the couch, the commute, or the couple bingeing it together.
The Buckley family will do almost anything — including drug smuggling — to save their business. What does Scripture warn about loving money more than truth or family?
1 Timothy 6:10 · Luke 12:15One daughter seems to be the only character troubled by her family's choices. What does it look like to hold onto conscience when everyone around you has stopped listening to theirs?
Romans 12:2Harlan the patriarch steps back into strong-arm control only when things fall apart. How does that compare with the kind of steady, faithful leadership Scripture asks of fathers and heads of families?
Ephesians 6:4The show is well made but morally dark. How do you decide, as a family, when good craftsmanship is worth wading through difficult content — and when it isn't?
Philippians 4:8The Final Word
THE WATERFRONT proves that good filmmaking and good content aren't the same thing. Its cinematography, acting, and writing are genuinely strong — but graphic violence, explicit sex and nudity, heavy profanity, and a plot soaked in drug smuggling put it out of bounds for most families, and for most adults' consciences too. Our answer stands: SKIP IT. Want a family drama worth your evening instead? Start with our latest family-friendly picks.
