A patron of a shabby Cornish inn drops a coin on the table and gives the ten-year-old boy across from him ten seconds to prove himself. The boy, Jim Hawkins (Tom Sweet), reads a page of scripture perfectly, word for word. His mother, Bess Hawkins (Hayley Atwell), takes the prize money.
This is how the two manage to get by until an injured French pirate named Billy Bones (Tomer Capone) arrives at their doorstep with the one thing all killers on the coast desire. What if a boy who never forgets was given a map that he could never turn away from?
It is the map of the legendary Captain Flint, and Bess nurses Bones back to health, even sharing a charged moment with him. However, Bones isn’t destined to remain a guest for long. One-legged pirate Long John Silver (David Oyelowo), with a parrot on his shoulder and a price on his head, comes to Cornwall to search for the same treasure.
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Bones is killed, the map is lodged in Jim’s memory, and mother and son escape on Captain Smollett’s (Tristan Sturrock) ship to Bristol. Soon, Silver is back on the crew, and the Hawkinses don’t say anything about it.
The threat is not limited to one pirate. The British spy and widower Aaron Graham (Jack Huston) is also after the map and could be more than a nuisance for Bess. Set in 1788 and inspired by the slave trade in Jamaica and the French Revolution, the series aims to be a swashbuckling political statement.
This grit is familiar to fans of Black Sails, but it’s not quite as confident as that show. Fans who like the sunny spirit of Muppet Treasure Island won’t want to sing along to this version.
This is the actual issue: the show never makes any sense of Bess being the focus of this story. It’s not like anyone ever asked her to be. Atwell has a lot of fire, but the writing gives her only a bit of stubbornness and a new love.
The first half of the series sees her displaying her sword skills and flirtations, while Jim, the boy the series is named after, becomes a plot device with a memory. A tale of treasure and adventure has an oddly slow pace when the ship barely leaves the dock, and what action there is feels fuzzy, awkwardly filmed, and undermined by cheap digital blood.
Give credit where it is due. Finally, at the midpoint, a turn of the screw allows Jim some breathing room, and the series becomes more interesting and more faithful to its source. Sweet is good at portraying the boy’s gradual growth in confidence, and the complicated relationship between Jim and Silver has a lot of substance.
The best part of this is Oyelowo. He has a commanding presence and a commanding voice that make the whole show come alive, and his chemistry with Sweet is the strongest part of the series.
The series is not as secure when it comes to history. Slavery and revolution are referred to but not explored as concepts. Having Silver be a Black pirate suggests a deeper exploration than simply having white characters nod along with his freedom-fighting efforts.
It’s also been a detriment to the rogues’ delight that is Silver, having him singled out for his race. Consider whether a classic can be made this “new” through such rewriting. In this case, the answer is no.
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That dark demeanor is why the following content guide comes with warnings about mature material. Rotten Tomatoes’ official description calls this a journey of “mutiny, violence and betrayal,” and the gritty series relies on bloodshed, an early death, and grown-up love to establish its tone.
I only feel the show gets the depths and darkness mixed up. My suggestion: if you’re seeking a family pirate adventure, you’re going to have to find another place. If you’re seeking a serious pirate adventure, then you should go in with limited expectations.
Directed by: Jeremy Lovering, William McGregor, and Paul Walker
Starring: David Oyelowo, Hayley Atwell, Jack Huston
Running time: Six episodes (individual episode runtimes not confirmed)
Premiere: October 11, 2026, on MGM+ (U.S.); October 12, 2026, on Paramount+ (UK and Ireland)
Updated: October 11, 2026
Why is Treasure Island rated [Not confirmed]?
The rating for Treasure Island has not been confirmed here. As of the time of writing, the official age rating and detailed content descriptors still need to be verified through the relevant platform listings.
Television series are not rated by the MPAA, which rates theatrical films in the United States. A television content rating, where applicable, should be used instead.
Violence: Long John Silver kills Billy Bones while searching for the map, according to the available reviews. During the journey, Bess fights Spanish pirates in sword fights. Action scenes reportedly depict fatal combat, with blood splattering from wounds and computer-generated effects used to depict violence.
Sexual Content: Bess and Billy Bones reportedly share a passionate romantic encounter while he is recovering at the inn. Bess later falls in love with Aaron Graham, according to the available reviews.
Nudity, sexual activity, and sexual references: Not confirmed in sufficient detail.
Profanity: The amount of profanity has not been confirmed. There are no verified statistics for sexual expletives, scatological terms, misuse of deity names, or slurs.
Racial animosity towards Long John Silver forms part of the story’s historical background, according to reviews. Whether racial epithets are used, and how frequently, remains unconfirmed.
Alcohol/Drug Use: Not confirmed. The inn and pirate-crew atmosphere may suggest drinking, but this alone is not evidence of specific alcohol or drug use in the series.
Conclusion
Treasure Island (MGM+) reimagines the classic story from Bess Hawkins’ point of view, as she and her memory-gifted son, Jim, race to find Captain Flint’s treasure while facing Long John Silver and the spy Aaron Graham.
The concept is good, but the first half leaves Jim on the bench, the action is shoddy, and the historical themes remain superficial. It gets better when Jim finally gets his due, and Oyelowo’s Silver is a worthwhile journey in his own right.
Recommendation: Worth considering for adults who love grungy pirate stories and want to see Oyelowo’s performance. Families with younger children will want to wait until the age rating and content details are confirmed, while purists of the original novel will probably be disappointed.
Rebecca Hollis is the founder of Screen Parent Guide and a film content analyst with seven years of experience reviewing films for an independent ratings consultancy. A Film Studies graduate of Emerson College, she specialized in content classification and how ratings systems communicate, and often fail to communicate, what families can expect from a movie.