Book Club: The Next Chapter | 2023 | PG-13 | – 4.2.5

Why is “Book Club: The Next Chapter” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “some strong language and suggestive material.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes an implied sex scene, several kissing scenes, several references to sexual relationships, a near car accident, women getting stranded on a European vacation, women being arrested and put in a jail cell, references to illness and the death of a spouse, discussions of marriage and the institution of marriage, and at least 2 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Four women (Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen) that have been friends for many years decide to celebrate the upcoming marriage of one of them in Italy, and find themselves learning more about each other than they ever knew. Also with Andy Garcia, Don Johnson, Craig T. Nelson, Giancarlo Giannini, Hugh Quarshie, Vincent Riotta and Giovanni Esposito. Directed by Bill Holderman. [Running Time: 1:47]

Book Club: The Next Chapter SEX/NUDITY 4

 – A man and a woman come out of the cabin of a small boat partially dressed and disheveled (we see their clothes in disarray and the woman’s hair is mussed; sex is implied).
► A van is shown rocking back and forth implying that a man and woman are having sex inside the van (they are not). A police car stops on a road where four women are stranded and one woman approaches an officer thinking that he is a stripper; she touches his chest and tries to unfasten his pants, and the scene ends with the four women being locked in a jail cell.
► Men and women kiss in several scenes. A man and a woman kiss goodbye. Several women hug in greeting.
► A man and woman flirt at a bar. Men propose to women in a couple of scenes. A woman says that she got pregnant and then got married. A woman remarks about another woman’s “nether regions.” A woman and a man flirt by text message and the woman says that she needs to buy new lingerie after her suitcase was stolen. Women tease another woman about an entry in her diary about a man’s “magical meatballs” (they were taking a cooking class together, and sex is implied). A man tells a woman that his first time was with her, and she thinks he is talking about sex (he is not). A man tells a woman, “We should take advantage of tonight,” when he learns that she is leaving the next morning. Remarks are made about a woman “rubbing a man’s dough,” and we see them kneading pasta dough together. A woman describes a man as a “hottie.” A young man sketches a woman at a café and we see the finished drawing with the woman wearing a tight-fitting outfit that accentuates her breasts. A woman says there was a time when there was nothing she wouldn’t do for a particular man (sexually), and goes on to say that is why she needed a knee replacement. A chef serves “Amuse-bouche” and a woman says, “Someone’s bouche is already amused.” A woman makes sexually suggestive remarks about another woman and a man.
► Women shop for a wedding gown and try several dresses on (some cleavage is shown). Women wear low-cut dresses in several scenes (cleavage is visible). A performer wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage, her bare back and abdomen. Nude male statues are seen in several scenes and we see bare chests, abdomens, legs, buttocks and genitals; women remark about the size of the genitals in a couple of scenes. A nude female statue shows bare breasts, abdomen and genital outline.

Book Club: The Next Chapter VIOLENCE/GORE 2

 – A car tire goes flat and the driver swerves on the road (no injuries occur); the four women in the car worry that they will be stuck for a long time because there are no other cars on the road to stop for help and one asks if they should decide who they would eat first.
► Two men offer to take the suitcases of four women in a train station and the women later realize that the men stole the suitcases. A woman watches through a CCTV camera as her husband makes bacon and she yells at him, causing him to drop the tray on the floor. A woman thumps her head on a restaurant table a couple of times and tells other women to stop screaming (she is hungover). A woman becomes very anxious in a few scenes and other women tell her to calm down. A woman yells at a police commander in a couple of scenes. A man and a woman on a small boat appear stranded in the middle of a canal and when a police boat arrives, they ask for a tow, but the officer on the police boat declines and says the woman should swim them back to shore.
► We hear that a man had a heart attack and was in the hospital. A woman says that she was carrying her deceased husband’s ashes in her suitcase, which was stolen. A woman says that she is constantly worrying that her husband is “going to drop dead.” A bartender pours a woman a glass of wine at a bar and tells her, “To help you forget your troubles.” After a night of drinking a variety of alcoholic beverages, a woman tells another woman that she is definitely drunk. A woman accuses another woman of “always playing the victim.” A woman says, “I think I’m gonna be sick” and puts her hand on her stomach (she does not get sick). A woman describes a wedding being canceled and that there was screaming and crying and a dress on fire. A woman says that she is surprised that another woman didn’t burst into flames walking into a church.
► A woman carrying an urn containing her deceased husband’s ashes opens the door of a helicopter to drop the ashes, but when she cannot open the urn, she drops it, it hits the side of the helicopter and pops open spreading the ashes in the wind. A woman holds what she identifies as a rescue parrot on her shoulder; she talks to it and the next scene shows her with a patch on her eye and she says the bird was re-homed. We learn that a woman’s cat died (we do not see the animal).

Book Club: The Next Chapter LANGUAGE 5

 – About 2 F-words, 5 sexual references, 4 scatological terms, 1 anatomical term, 7 mild obscenities, name-calling (degrading, absurdity, nuts, doomed, victim, critical, crazy, lazy, trouble-maker, dough boy, pathetic, jerk, fool, slim, bastard), exclamations (knock it off, ai-ai-ai, hey, oh my gosh, you again, oh no, shoot, sick of it, yikes, shut-up, friggin’), 1 religious profanity (GD), 34 religious exclamations (e.g. oh my God, oh God, oh my Lord, Jesus Christ, St. Christopher, Jesus [F-word deleted] Christ). | profanity glossary |

Book Club: The Next Chapter SUBSTANCE USE

 – Women drink prosecco and wine in many scenes throughout the movie, several video chat scenes show women drinking wine and whiskey, people drink a variety of alcoholic beverages at a dinner party and some of the people seem inebriated, a woman guzzles glasses of wine and appears nervous, and a woman tells another woman that she is drunk.

Book Club: The Next Chapter DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Aging, retirement, the COVID-19 quarantine, life choices, fate, friendship, marriage, death of a spouse, illness, excuses, second thoughts, “The Alchemist.”

Book Club: The Next Chapter MESSAGE

 – The surprises are what make life worth living, and life is basically what you make it.