The Bad Kids

A story that follows three children from a coastal town who unintentionally film a murder scene. As the kids become involved with the suspect, it opens up a case that is far more complicated than it looks and entraps several families into an unpredictable outcome.

The Bad Kids (2020) is a Chinese crime mystery miniseries created by Xin Shuang and Zi Jin Chen for iQiyi. Across twelve episodes of roughly 48 minutes each, it follows three children from a coastal town who accidentally film a murder scene and then become entangled with the suspect. Their curiosity and fear pull them into a case far more complicated than it first appears, and the investigation opens doors onto several local families whose private lives are shaped by secrets and buried wounds. Qin Hao plays Zhang Dongsheng and Wang Jingchun plays Chen Guansheng, two principal figures whose paths intersect with the children's as the truth slowly surfaces. The engine of the story is the gap between what children can see and what adults choose to hide, with each episode peeling back another layer of the community's respectable surface. The mood is somber, tense and melancholic, with a lingering dread about childhood innocence and the cost of knowing too much. Set in a contemporary Chinese coastal town, it is a self-contained limited series rather than a case-of-the-week format. Fans of Broadchurch and Big Little Lies will find resonance in its small town unease and its patient unraveling of family secrets.

Audiences broadly acclaim the miniseries as a tense, carefully plotted mystery whose child-led investigation exposes the damage adults inflict on children.

• Broadchurchcrime mystery with child protagonists uncovering a murder, serialized suspense in a small coastal town
• Stranger Thingschildren stumbling into a murder investigation, dark coming of age mystery
• Big Little Liessmall town mystery with families entangled in a crime, slow burn serialized dread

Created by

Xin Shuang, Zi Jin Chen

Release Date

2020-06-16

Episode runtime

48 min

Rating

8.2 / 10 (85)

What is The Bad Kids about?

Three children from a coastal town accidentally film a murder and get drawn into a tangled case that ensnares several families.

What is The Bad Kids like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Bad Kids as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.

Is The Bad Kids violent?

Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in The Bad Kids as moderate.

What did critics think of The Bad Kids?

Audiences broadly acclaim the miniseries as a tense, carefully plotted mystery whose child-led investigation exposes the damage adults inflict on children.

Which shows are like The Bad Kids?

Shows with a similar feel include Broadchurch, Stranger Things, and Big Little Lies.

How long is The Bad Kids?

The Bad Kids: 1 season, 12 episodes.

Is The Bad Kids still running?

No, The Bad Kids has ended.

Where can I watch The Bad Kids?

In United States, The Bad Kids streams on iQIYI.