# Kiss Me First (2018)

> A troubled teenager escapes into a secret virtual paradise that slowly turns dark and dangerous.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/66327

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 6
- Episode runtime: 47 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, science fiction, mystery
- Created by: Bryan Elsley
- Network: Channel 4
- Cast: Tallulah Haddon, Simona Brown, Matthew Beard, Haruka Abe, Freddie Stewart, Misia Butler, Shannon Hayes, Lauren Ward
- TMDB rating: 6.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5730690/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: paranoid, claustrophobic, tense, melancholic

## What critics say

Audiences rated the single season modestly, with a negative aggregate reception driven by a mixed response to its virtual-reality premise and dark turn.

## Synopsis

Kiss Me First (2018) is a British science fiction drama series created by Bryan Elsley for Channel 4, adapted from a novel. Seventeen-year-old Leila (Tallulah Haddon), a lonely young woman fleeing a painful reality, finds refuge in a secret virtual paradise, an online game whose immersive world promises escape. Her alter ego Shadowfax is drawn into a community that begins to feel more controlled than free, and her search for truth pulls her toward a rival player, Tess (Simona Brown), and a quietly unsettling man named Adrian (Matthew Beard). Each episode of this single six-episode season is built from the tension between online intimacy and real-world danger, as Leila tries to understand who is pulling the strings behind the game. The mood is claustrophobic and paranoid, with a moody, uneasy atmosphere that fits its near future dystopia. Fans of Black Mirror and Ready Player One will find resonance in its blend of digital escapism, dread-filled suspense, and a teenage protagonist caught between two worlds. The show plays like a compact techno thriller, mixing mystery with a sharp study of loneliness and identity in an always-connected age.

## Shows like Kiss Me First

- [Chloe (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/118789)
- [VR.5 (1995)](https://ember.film/tv/1848)
- [Red Rose (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/130002)
- [T@gged (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/62377)
- [The Rook (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/68275)
- [Sparta (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/69373)
- [The Rising (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/103361)
- [The Peripheral (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/80552)
- [.hack (2002)](https://ember.film/tv/8209)
- [Utopia (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/68019)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt