Time Cut parents guide: How violent is the teen horror movie?

Just in time for Halloween movie nights, Netflix released the new teen horror movie Time Cut on Oct. 30. It's the perfect addition to a spooky movie night that includes the fan-favorite Netflix original Fear Street trilogy and Don't Move, another recent horror release on the streamer that's shot straight to the peak of the top 10 most popular movies.

Certified Netflix stars Madison Bailey (Kiara in Outer Banks) and Antonia Gentry (Ginny in Ginny & Georgia) lead the teen slasher movie as sisters Lucy and Summer. But Summer doesn't know Lucy exists because she was born 20 years after she was killed by the Sweetly Slasher. Unexpectedly, Lucy goes back in time to 2003 to save her sister from being murdered.

The new movie full of early aughts throwbacks and chilling jump scares will definitely become a new annual staple to watch around Halloween and on any Friday the 13th movie nights. But who is the movie appropriate for, and just how scary is the violence? Here's what you need to know about Time Cut before watching, without revealing any major spoilers!

Time Cut is only rated TV-14

The official Time Cut page on Netflix reveals that the movie has earned an age rating of TV-14 for fear, language, and violence. That's not the age rating you would expect for a slasher horror movie, as a vast majority of those would be rated either TV-MA or R. But as a teen movie, Netflix allowed Time Cut to be accessible to a younger audience rather than being overly mature.

If you're concerned that there's any sex or nudity featured in the movie, since it's not included in the movie's age rating description, you don't have to worry about seeing any sex scenes or gratuitous nudity. There's still romance, but nothing over the top. Considering the movie centers on teenagers (even if the actors aren't teenagers themselves in real life), it's right for its target audience.

The language featured in the movie is a bit heightened with a few profanities thrown in here and there, but the language doesn't reach the inappropriate heights of a TV-MA or R-rated film. If Time Cut had been released in theaters, it would have been rated PG-13. However, much of its age rating comes from the central premise of a serial killer inflicting fear and death around Sweetly.

Violence, gore, and who should watch

In multiple scenes, there are deaths of various characters as a masked slasher stabs their victims with a knife, not unlike Scream's Ghostface. There's some blood and gore, though again, seeing as the movie is TV-14, it's not over the top. There's still a fair amount of fear to be felt from sequences of characters running from or confronting the Sweetly Slasher.

Overall, Time Cut should be appropriate for teenagers to watch on Halloween night with the lights off for a gentle spook and a good time. There are even more layers to the movie beyond the horror and slasher elements. There's the sci-fi aspect of time travel and the very relatable and human themes of sisterhood, family, identity, sexuality, friendship, and other teen issues.

Netflix warns that the movie isn't suitable for viewers younger than 14 years old, though perhaps with parental guidance, some older tweens could enjoy watching Time Cut with the family for movie night. It's definitely not family-friendly like Halloweentown or Hocus Pocus, but it's nowhere near as gory, violent, and terrifying as the likes of Scream and Halloween.

Watch the Time Cut trailer in the video below to get a taste of what to expect!

Watch Time Cut only on Netflix.