Stillwater | 2021 | R | – 5.4.7

Why is “Stillwater” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “language.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a sex scene with partial nudity, an implied sex scene, a couple of kissing scenes, discussions of two young women in a sexual relationship and living together, a man is beaten by several young man, a young man is knocked unconscious and held captive, a young woman tries to hang herself, several arguments, discussion of a murder case, and 25 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Editor’s Note: While the movie is, according to the director, based on the 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher by burglar Rudy Guede, the story was altered to distort the role of writer Amanda Knox, who has been exonerated of any involvement in the crime, after being wrongly incarcerated by Italian authorities for several years.

A man (Matt Damon) attempts to help his daughter (Abigail Breslin), convicted of murder in France, by tracking down the actual murderer. Also with Camille Cottin, Lilou Siauvaud, Deanna Dunagan, Idir Azougli, Anne Le Ny and Moussa Maaskri. Directed by Tom McCarthy. Several lines of dialogue are spoken in French with English subtitles. [Running Time: 2:19]

Stillwater SEX/NUDITY 5

 – A man and a woman have sex: we hear smooching sounds, and see the man’s bare back as he rolls the woman (wearing underwear that reveals her bare shoulders and cleavage) over on the bed. A man and a woman kiss and we hear smooching sounds (sex is implied).
► A man and a woman kiss. A man and a woman lie in bed together (they’re fully clothed and it is not implied that they had sex). A man and a woman dance close together and a young girl joins them.
► A young woman talks about loving another young woman. A young woman says that her girlfriend started sleeping with other people and that she was humiliated. A man says that he knew that two young women were sleeping together. A young woman asks her father and a woman, “So you two really aren’t having sex?” A woman says that the father of her daughter was a “fling.” A man remarks about his daughter, “Sleeping with some Arab girl.” A toy robot plays a tune and a computerized voice says, “Sexy lady.” A young woman asks her father if the woman he is living with is a stripper. People talk about love at first sight.
► A young woman removes her clothes and dives into water to swim (we see her bare back and underwear and partial breasts through the water). A man gets out of a shower and wraps himself with a towel (we see his bare chest, abdomen and back). A woman wears a low-cut T-shirt that reveals cleavage in several scenes. A man is shirtless and wearing underwear that reveal his bare chest, abdomen and legs to the upper thighs. A man wears a T-shirt and boxers that reveal his bare legs to the upper thighs.

Stillwater VIOLENCE/GORE 4

 – A man is surrounded by young men and mocked, they shove him, he tries to hit them and they punch and kick him repeatedly; they put him in a car and drop him at a hospital where he is seen with bloody cuts and bruises on his face. A man watches and then follows a young man, punches him (knocking him out) and puts him in the back of a truck (while a young girl sleeps in the front seat); we later see the young man taped into a chair and gagged in a dark basement room (we see blood on his shirt and face). A man slaps a young man in the face and reprimands him.
► A man grabs a pen out of another man’s hand and throws it while yelling at him. A young woman is shown in a hospital bed on a ventilator and we hear that she hanged herself (she recovers and we see her with a bruise on her neck later). Sounds of metal crushing and heavy machinery accompany a cleanup scene after a tornado; we see homes splintered and debris scattered.
► A young girl asks a man, “Who is the man in the cave?” and he tells her to keep a secret. A young girl asks a man, “Will you kill the man in the cave?” Several men discuss a murder case and insist that a young woman convicted of the crime did it. A man yells at two women making noise on a neighboring balcony and not allowing him to sleep. A young woman says that her father is not capable of helping her. A young woman yells at her father. A woman tells a man to pack his things and leave. A letter written by a young woman in prison to her lawyer asks for assistance in investigating a new lead in her case. A woman asks a man about having punched a reporter. A woman asks a man if he voted for Trump and he replies, “No,” and that he couldn’t vote because he has a criminal record and is not allowed to vote. A man makes several racist remarks and indicates that he would be willing to falsely identify any Arab person as a murderer to get them out of Marseilles. A man and woman argue bitterly and the woman storms away. A man talks about having two guns. A young woman talks about there being nothing left of her mother after her father got rid of her belongings. People chant and cheer at a soccer match and crush out of the stands afterward. We hear that a young girl was fighting in school. Police search an apartment basement and question a young girl. A young woman asks her father, “What is wrong with us?”
► A young woman goes to a cemetery and cries near a gravestone; she previously talked about not being able to grieve for her dead lover. We hear that a woman committed suicide. A woman is shown with oxygen tubes at her nose and a tank in several scenes. A man has a tattoo of an eagle and a skull with a knife going through it on his arm. A young man urinates (we hear the splatter).

Stillwater LANGUAGE 7

 – About 25 F-words (1 not fully enunciated), 5 sexual references, 26 scatological terms, 5 anatomical terms, 5 mild obscenities, name-calling (crazy, dumb [anatomical term deleted], cowboy, nuts, snitches, liar, stupid, cynical, cultural elite, monkey, horrible, messy, provincial, babies, crybabies, bad man, fancy [anatomical term deleted], useless, weird, roughneck, stubborn, hostile, ferocious, groovy, monster, messed-up, prostitute [in French and without translation]), exclamations (wow, shut-up, yeah, stop it, let’s go, dig in, whatever), 6 religious exclamations (e.g. Oh My God, God, Jesus, God Bless, Holy [scatological term deleted], Devil, several prayers are recited over meals and in times of stress). | profanity glossary |

Stillwater SUBSTANCE USE

 – A woman says that there is a lot of “dealing” in a housing project in Marseilles, and a young woman asks her father if he is “using.” A man talks about drinking too much and later about having given up drinking, two people ask a man if he has been drinking, a man drinks wine, two women drink beer from bottles and smoke cigarettes on a balcony, and people drink wine and smoke cigarettes in an apartment. A man smokes a cigarette in a truck, a man smokes a cigarette in a car, two women smoke, and a man smokes a cigarette on a balcony.

Stillwater DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Murder, wrongful conviction, parenting, suicide, death of a parent, change, truth, shame, justice, accepting your fate, guilt, powerlessness, parole, single parenting, racism, oil drilling, false hope, lying, secrets.

Stillwater MESSAGE

 – Life is brutal.