Magnolia (1999) - Parents Guide Movie Rating

MPA: R BBFC: 18 Maturity Rating 18+

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

BBFC Ratings info: MAGNOLIA is a US drama about a series of stories exploring the concept of 'coincidence'. Language: There is infrequent use of very strong language ('c**t'), strong language ('f**k', 'motherf**ker', 'c**ksucker'), and moderate bad language including 'prick', 'whore' and 'slut'. Sex: Sequences of strong sex includes a man thrusting into a woman, with sight of her bare breasts. Frequent strong sex references include crude terminology describe male and female genitalia, oral sex, and semen. These are often said in a derogatory manner towards women. Drugs: There are frequent scenes of cocaine snorting. Violence: Scenes include a character being shot and another being struck on the head, both with resultant sight of blood. There are also scenes of hanging. Suicide: Scenes of suicide and attempted suicide include a character shooting himself, another stepping off a roof, and sight of another inside a smoke-filled car. There are implied references to child sexual abuse.

Sex & Nudity

moderate

A character passes an adult video for a few seconds while flipping channels. Brief nudity but nothing graphic. A sex guru teaches a misogynistic course to men on how to manipulate women. Some sexual references, nothing graphic. 2 sex scenes are shown in this movie, (both are in the first 10 minutes). One has graphic bouncing breast nudity during explicit thrusting. A character is very briefly seen flipping through a Hustler magazine. A man and woman have anal sex fully clothed. This scene is very brief. (First 10 minutes of the movie) A woman is briefly shown showering (brief views of her breasts behind fogged up glass) A character is implied to have been molested by her father.

Violence & Gore

moderate

It is implied that a dog died. The body is shown for a couple of seconds. A man falls from a height to the ground, injuring and bloodying his nose and mouth. A man shoots himself in the mouth. We see a flash of light and blood spray onto a wall behind him. A teenage boy jumps off of a tall building. As he passes a window, a woman fires a gun, shooting the boy in the stomach. We see a large, bloody wound in his abdomen for a brief moment. A woman overdoses on pills and falls unconscious. She is taken in an ambulance which then crashes (no injuries are visible). She is later seen alive and seemingly unharmed. A man jumps onto another man and begins beating him. He is pulled off, and neither man is injured. Most of the violence is at the beginning of the film. Thousands of frogs rain from the sky. There is some blood on their bodies.

Profanity

severe

Around 190 uses of "fuck". An African-American boy says the "N" word while he raps to Jim Kurring. A lot of uses of "fuck" and "shit". One or two uses of "cunt".

Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking

severe

A woman is a cocaine addict and is shown snorting cocaine many times throughout the movie. A man is seen drinking alcohol on several occasions, implying he is an alcoholic. A woman uses many prescription medications and at one point overdoes purposely on them. A subplot takes place almost entirely in a bar, and a man is seen very intoxicated. A man dying of cancer is given drugs such as morphine throughout the film.

Frightening & Intense Scenes

moderate

Jimmy collapses on the set of his TV show (after we already know that he has a terminal illness). An unseen shooter opens fire on Kurring who then loses his gun and frantically looks for it. Distraught at her life, Linda sits in a closed garage in a parked car, nearly committing suicide and then tries again with pills and booze, while Jimmy later tries to kill himself with a gun. Suicide is a main theme in the movie. besides of having some goofy moments the film is very emotionally challenging The overall setting and mood of despondent people screaming and letting lose with profanity may be unsettling to some viewers. Kurring responds to a call of a disturbance at a woman's house. Although she denies anything being wrong, he starts to look through her house, while she repeatedly curses at him. He eventually finds a dead body in her closet. A scene where a literal rainstorm of frogs is falling from the sky and pummeling anything in their path may be a bit unsettling for some viewers.