'EMPIRE OF LIGHT'
Rated R for sexual content, language and brief violence.
What it’s about: The unlikely friendship between two employees working at a cinema in Margate, England, in 1980.
The kid attractor factor: This is an adult drama, there's not much appeal for kids.
Good lessons/bad lessons: Human connection and friendship is a crucial element for weathering life's hardest challenges.
Violence: A violent attack on a Black employee by a racist mob of skinheads.
Language: Some swearing.
Sex: A few sex scenes (no graphic nudity), and references to/discussions of sex.
Drugs: Drinking but no other drug use.
Parents’ advisory: This is more of a mature adult drama — not much appeal for kids but OK for teens.
———
'THE WHALE'
Rated R for language, some drug use and sexual content.
What it’s about: A man reckons with his life and reaches out to his estranged daughter while his health falters.
The kid attractor factor: Not much — this is a searing adult drama.
Good lessons/bad lessons: Those are hard to pull out of this complex film about humanity. As the protagonist believes, "people are amazing," but life is indeed hard.
Violence: None, but it is a film of physical challenges and suffering nevertheless.
Language: Swearing throughout.
Sex: References to sex, a scene of masturbation with pornography.
Drugs: Teens smoking marijuana.
Parents’ advisory: There's no appeal for kids here, and some of the themes are too mature. OK for teens.
———
