Pulp Fiction (1994) - Parents Guide Movie Rating

MPA: R BBFC: 18 Maturity Rating 18+

MPAA Reason: Rated R for strong graphic violence and drug use, pervasive strong language and some sexuality.

BBFC Reason: drug use, sexual violence

BBFC Ratings info: PULP FICTION is a 1994 crime drama about the intertwining lives of a group of characters involved in criminal activities. Drugs: There is a scene in which a man prepares and injects heroin. In a later scene, a woman mistakes the man's heroin for cocaine and snorts it. She collapses and almost dies, before being revived with an adrenaline shot to the heart. There are also scenes in which a woman snorts lines of cocaine. Violence: There is a scene in which a man is gagged and raped by another man. The scene contains brief sight of a man thrusting into the victim, although most of the rape occurs offscreen. Other violent scenes include men being shot with blood spurts. There is a scene in which a man is accidentally shot in the head, resulting in blood and brain matter spraying over two other men. There is frequent strong language ('f**k' and 'motherf**ker') and some unendorsed discriminatory language. The film also contains some strong sex references.

Sex & Nudity

moderate

Two characters talk about if a foot massage is as bad as having sex with someone's wife. Jules and Vincent shower outside. We only see them from the waist up. Butch and his girlfriend are kissing and Butch moves off-camera. Oral sex is implied. After this Butch takes a shower. He is nude, but nothing from the waist down is shown. The Gimp wears a leather suit implied to be a sex suit. But this suit isn't revealing at all. A lot of sexual references with crude, vulgar terms. Two girls are talking about piercings, one of them mentions that she has a piercing on her genitals. Adult mature content A man rapes another man by humping him from behind. There is a prolonged rape scene, and it is the most sexual scene in the movie and his butt is shown

Violence & Gore

severe

A man suddenly shoots another man without warning. No blood. Most violent scenes aren't that graphic. However there are a few particular parts which are. Most notably the scene in which a man is shot in the head while sitting in a car and there's a large explosion of blood and the car and people in it get covered with blood and brain matter. They later spend a scene cleaning it up. The needle scene and rape scene are also pretty brutal. A man injects heroin into his arm. It shows the needle slowly piercing and entering his skin in close-up and then as the blood fills up the syringe. This is all shown for a lengthy amount of time and might make some viewers squirm. Though a character getting shot in the face is very violent, it has a humorous tone to it. One of the shootings is particularly gruesome. The violence, while often containing blood, is not too disturbing and is played for dark humor, except for a couple parts. There is a scene where a man is gagged and raped by another man. You briefly see thrusting but this is mostly off-screen, although it's still explicit and is probably the most violent scene in the movie. A man is riddled with a submachine gun. The shooting is seen very briefly, and the aftermath is shown with the man's corpse covered in blood and bullet holes, with some blood splattered on the wall. A man punches another man hard in the face, and knocking him out. A man is shot several times and screams offscreen as a result, this scene is then shown again but is onscreen, blood spurts are visible and screams are audible. A woman snorts a drug and gets a nosebleed as a result. A man chases another and shoots another man several times (but misses); he accidentally shoots an innocent woman. Blood squirts out of her leg A man is whipped in the face with the butt of a shotgun. A man is shot in the groin with a shotgun; a chunk of blood is briefly visible. He is then shown on the floor in pain. A man is sliced across the chest with a large katana (offscreen), a large streak of blood is visible, he is then killed by being stabbed in the chest. A man intentionally drives into another man; the scene ends with a car crash. We see the driver's face covered in blood and blood gets on his shirt. The driver is covered in blood for the rest of the movie. A man is shot in the face accidentally (and very suddenly). His actual face is not seen, but you can see a lot of blood cover a whole window. The shooters are covered in blood and brain matter. They are then forced to clean this up and a lot of the next few scenes has the characters still covered in blood. This is meant for comedic effect. A man walks out of a bathroom and shoots at one of the main characters five times, nothing happens, they then shoot him twice, two big bullet holes form in his chest. Blood sprays on the door and on some walls.

Profanity

severe

Some slurs for Koreans, Vietnamese, and Mexicans are heard in the beginning. Virtually every single character in the movie regularly uses harsh language. Samuel L Jackson's character probably says the most though. 265 uses of "fuck" and its derivatives. Some uses of "nigger." Language is used very commonly throughout, it's a part of these characters' daily conversation.

Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking

severe

Frequent cigarette smoking. Two men have a lengthy discussion about how hash is legal in Amsterdam. A man buys heroin from his friend. He then describes how the heroin makes you high, when you use it, where it comes from and how much it costs. One man briefly smokes marijuana using a joint and a woman uses a bong. Some casual drinking. A woman uses a credit card to get some cocaine ready to snort however the use of the drug is not shown but implied. A woman goes into a bathroom and puts her head down (off camera) and we hear her snorting something (cocaine) there are several other women doing the same thing, she then pulls her head up and has a bit of cocaine underneath her nose which she wipes. Almost all of the drug use ends up backfiring against whoever uses it. The drug use though is very explicit, especially the heroin scene which is shown in extremely graphic detail and for an extended period of time. Cocaine is snorted twice onscreen and a man injects heron into his arm, other than that the only obvious drug content is the conversation between Vincent and Jules about how hash is legal in Amsterdam. A man graphically prepares and injects heroin and a woman mistakes it for cocaine and snorts some. She collapses and nearly dies before getting an adrenaline shot to the heart. A man injects heroin. We see the needle go into his arm A woman gets an adrenaline shot in the heart to save her from a drug overdose.

Frightening & Intense Scenes

moderate

Some scenes in this movie could be perceived as disturbing. Some might find the violence in the movie disturbing or distasteful. The film's shootings and killings aren't very disturbing as they are stylized, unless you're very sensitive. The only frightening scene is the brief rape scene. The rape scene contains almost no nudity and is very quick but is still disturbing, the victim is saved though and the rapist is killed as payback. Some moments in the film are played for black comedy, but they are still pretty intense. R18+ ( Strong Coarse Language, Violence, Drug use & Adult Themes ) The rape scene, whilst being extremely short, could be frightening for some. The whole section in which Butch and Marcellus are captured and put in a basement is disturbing. Though they are never tortured, apart from the rape of Marcellus, it is heavily implied that they would've been if they didn't escape. The lighting is very dim and the characters are psychotic. This section will likely upset the younger audience and some sensitive adults. In a scene Butch is tied to a chair and you hear a man screaming and getting slapped in another room, it is said he is being raped, and he chimes in and saves the victim