Blue Story | 2020 | R | – 6.7.10

Why is “Blue Story” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “violence and language throughout, drug use and some sexuality.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a couple of sex scenes, teens talking about and joking about sex, suggestive dancing and gestures, and some cleavage revealing outfits; many scenes of street and gang violence between teens and young men ending in the death of several people with bloody wounds shown, many arguments leading to fights and threats with weapons, and video footage of violence with young men carrying guns and machetes and chasing each other; and over 90 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.”

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Teenagers in London’s urban neighborhoods struggle to stake their claim by joining gangs and try to survive the perpetual violence that plagues them. With Stephen Odubola, Micheal Ward, Khali Best, Karla-Simone Spence, Eric Kofi-Abrefa, Kadeem Ramsay, Junior Afolabi Salokun, Rohan Nedd, Sean Sagar and Jo Martin. Directed by Rapman. [Running Time: 1:31]

Blue Story SEX/NUDITY 6

 – A teen girl wearing a bra (we see cleavage, bare abdomen and back) is bent over on a sofa as a shirtless teen boy (we see his bare chest and abdomen) thrusts repeatedly and then stops; she quizzes him about whether he climaxed as he lies back on the sofa. A teen boy and a teen girl kiss tenderly on a sofa, they move to his room where he removes his shirt, she lies under covers on the bed and asks him if he has a condom (he does); he climbs on top of her and thrusts as she winces.
► A teen boy and a teen girl hug and kiss at a party (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A teen girl kisses a teen boy on the cheek. A teen boy and a teen girl hug. Teen boys and girls dance at a party with some hip thrusting; one teen boy dances with his hands on the clothed buttocks of a teen girl.
► A young man tells someone (presumably a young woman) on a cellphone to show him a picture of her in her birthday suit and he reacts when he receives a picture (we do not see it). A teen boy asks a teen girl to come to his house to watch a show and she makes a comment about “Netflix and chill.” A teen boy and a teen girl flirt in several scenes. Teen boys make sexual gestures by thrusting their hips in a few scenes. A teen boy tells his friends, “I don’t want sex, I just want her,” and the friends laugh at him.
► Teen girls wear low-cut tops and dresses that reveal cleavage in a few scenes. A teen girl wears a low-cut camisole that reveals cleavage.

Blue Story VIOLENCE/GORE 7

 – A man puts a gun in his belt and leaves his apartment to join a gang attacking another gang, shots are exchanged and one young man is shot in the back; he falls to the ground gagging and spitting out a lot of blood and he dies. A teen boy is surrounded by many teen boys and young men that attack him, he punches one of them and they punch and kick him, and a teen girl tries to stop them and she his shoved to the ground where she hits her head and lies dead in a puddle of blood; one of the attackers then hits the first teen boy in the head with a brick knocking him unconscious. A young man pours gas on a van with another young man inside and lights it on fire; the young man inside is overcome by smoke and dies as another young man tries to get him out. A young man chases another young man and punches him a few times while straddling him on the ground; another man approaches and points a gun at him until he is stabbed in the back and falls to the ground (we see him recovering in the hospital later and hear that he is paralyzed from the waist down); the first young man points the gun at the other young man and pulls the trigger but it does not discharge. Two teens threaten another teen and one holds a gun on him; the threatened teen hits one teen on the head and knocks him down, the other teen pulls the trigger but the gun does not discharge and the two teens struggle for the gun until we hear a gunshot off-screen. A teen boy is confronted by masked young men on a street, and one head-butts him, they beat him repeatedly, kick him while he is on the ground, and then hold his arm out and stomp on it (breaking it with a crack) and he screams in pain (we see him with a sling later and bruises on his face). Many young men and teen boys, some wearing bandanas on their faces, charge toward another group of young men and teen boys who run away as they are shot at (we do not see any injuries).
► Two teen boys argue about one of them having been beaten up, the injured teen yells at a teen girl when she tries to intervene and he calls her a name and slaps her in the face; the other teen boy punches him in the face. Two teen boys talk to two teen girls and two young men interfere and one draws a knife on one of the teens; he stands up to him and they argue briefly before threats are exchanged and they leave. Two young men fight over a gun and we hear a gunshot and understand that one of them was shot and killed.
► Opening credits are accompanied by news reports of young people being murdered on streets by gunshot and stabbings and we see video footage of young men carrying guns and machetes. We see video footage of young men fighting and blood is shown on the ground; one young man appears to be shot and falls dead. Armed police break into an apartment and take one man away in handcuffs, as his mother yells and officers hold her back.
► Several scenes show gangs of young men robbing, shooting, and fighting others with guns and long swords and knives. Two young men shove another young man against a wall and one holds a knife to his face asking for information about another young man. Two young men argue about who was responsible for another young man’s death; one draws a handgun and presses it to the forehead of the other and they continue arguing. A teen boy punches another teen boy in the face and others shove each other until a man with a long sword enters the room yelling for everyone to get out (they all run). A young man yells at his younger brother after having been punched by a teen boy. Two young men argue about killing another young man. A man yells at his younger brother and blames him for his injuries after a stabbing.
► Young men and teen boys plan an attack on a rival gang. A young man calls a revenge plot a “suicide mission.” A teen girl gives a teen boy a hard time for not backing down from a young man that threatened him with a knife. A young man talks about an “eye for an eye.” We hear that a teen boy went to jail for manslaughter or killing a teen girl. A woman finds her son dead from an overdose of pain medication (it’s an implied suicide).
► Teen boys laugh at another boy when he comes to school with his mother on the first day of high school. Teen boys tease another teen boy about talking to a teen girl. We hear that a young man’s father died when he was young and that his mother works two jobs to take care of him and his brother. A teen boy talks about getting homework detention for not having done the work and his friend gives him a paper with the work completed for him.
► A young man urinates on the ground (we hear the trickle; we do not see any flesh or urine). A reference is made to a young man’s body being eaten by worms.

Blue Story LANGUAGE 10

 – About 92 F-words, 6 sexual references, 22 scatological terms, 15 anatomical terms, 3 mild obscenities, 1 derogatory term for Black people, name-calling (sick, pointless, sexy, ghetto boy, fat, joker, slag girlfriend, cripple, boy, dead, disgrace, snake, punch bag, dumb, mad, flippin, pagan, stupid), exclamations (get out of here, shut-up, chill, oi, yo), 2 religious profanities (GD in song lyrics), 6 religious exclamations (e.g. Oh My God, I Swear To God, God). | profanity glossary |

Blue Story SUBSTANCE USE

 – A young man pours out a bottle of alcohol onto a sidewalk in memory of a young man that was shot and killed, and teen boys and teen girls drink alcohol at a party. Young men and teenage boys smoke (it’s not clear whether it’s tobacco or marijuana) on streets in several scenes, and a man smokes in a house.

Blue Story DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Gang violence, survival, trouble, friendship, fitting in, death of a parent, revenge, guilt, rejection, teen love, suicide.

Blue Story MESSAGE

 – Violence begets violence and the cycle is nearly impossible to break.