Why is “The Unbreakable Boy” rated PG? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “strong thematic material, alcohol abuse, language and some violence.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a couple of kissing scenes, an unplanned pregnancy, a man driving while inebriated causing property damage, a child falling and breaking bones numerous times, children being bullied by an older child leading to a fight, a husband and his wife arguing several times about money and raising their son with autism and osteogenesis imperfecta, a man drinking heavily and admitting to his alcoholism, and some strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Based on the true story of a child born with both a rare brittle-bone condition (osteogenesis imperfecta) and autism, and his ability to nevertheless embrace the world around him with joy. Also with Zachary Levi, Meghann Fahy, Jacob Laval, Drew Powell, Gavin Warren, Patricia Heaton, Todd Terry and Pilot Bunch. Directed by Jon Gunn. [Running Time: 1:49]

The Unbreakable Boy SEX/NUDITY 1

 – A man and a woman kiss and embrace, and a husband and his wife kiss at their wedding.
► A man admires a woman and talks to her awkwardly in a couple of scenes; they flirt and he asks her on a date. A woman tells a man that she is pregnant after they have been seeing each other for only a short time. A young boy says, “The chicks dig it,” about a jester’s hat, which he is wearing to school.
► A woman wears a low-cut top that reveals cleavage. A woman’s bare knee is visible in a delivery room during labor. A young boy runs through a crowded church wearing only his jockey shorts and we see his bare chest, abdomen, back and legs. An infant is shown having his diaper changed and we see his bare chest, abdomen, back and legs.

The Unbreakable Boy VIOLENCE/GORE 4

 – A man at a party drinks a lot of champagne and liquor and carries a bottle of champagne that he drops and it shatters; the man is shown to be inebriated and he later drives while under the influence with his two sons in the car, and swerves on a road to avoid an oncoming vehicle (the car is shown crashed into a tree; no one is seen to be injured).
► A boy stands behind a man swinging on a swing set and is struck and falls to the ground (we see him later with a cast on his chest and understand that he has broken his ribs). A young boy jumps on a table and falls to the floor breaking his leg. A young boy falls to his knees and breaks his arm. A young boy falls on from a step and onto the floor cutting his head (we see blood on his forehead) and he later has a splint on his wrist and a bandage on his head. A woman pounds on a steering wheel and cries as she drives; she closes her eyes and runs over lane dividers in the road before slamming on the brakes and spinning out (no one is hurt).
► We hear that a newborn’s ribs were broken when forceps were used in delivery. Numerous X-rays are shown throughout the movie depicting broken bones and we see a young boy wearing casts in many scenes. A woman in labor yells and a man looks under a drape and says, “That’s a lot of blood” (we do not see this); the doctor says that the umbilical cord is wrapped around the newborn’s neck and uses forceps to assist (we see the newborn unharmed but later hear that his ribs were broken).
► A boy grabs another boy’s skateboard away from him and when the second boy tries to retrieve it the first boy punches him hard in the face; the second boy tackles him and punches him repeatedly and they are both taken to the principal’s office. A boy bullies other children at school and picks on another boy for being a person with autism and another for being small. A boy with autism becomes upset, throws something at his mother hitting her in the head (we see a bloody bruise later), and then chokes his younger brother before his father grabs and holds him to try to calm him down; we later see him being injected with a sedative and checked into a hospital for “psychiatric evaluation.” A boy goads another boy to recite lines from a movie in a classroom and the second boy is led out of the classroom by an aide when he cannot be calmed.
► A wife pours a bucket of water on her sleeping husband and tells him to get out after he drove their two sons home after drinking heavily at a party. A woman blames a man for their child getting hurt every time he is left in the man’s care. A man and a woman argue when he leaves for work and she feels like she is “stuck.” A woman throws dishes and yells at her adult son when he tells her that a woman he is seeing is pregnant. A man and a woman argue about money and debt. A husband tells his wife that he is Christmas shopping when he is actually at a bar. A man tells another man that he is failing as a husband and a father and that he has no moral compass. A woman tells a man that she had been married twice before meeting him and the marriages ended in divorce; he becomes upset because she had not told him before. A woman says that her father was an alcoholic. A man feels guilty for getting frustrated with his son before understanding that he is a person with autism. A man drinks heavily in a bar and another man leaves but seems concerned when the man orders another drink. A man is fired from his job and we understand that he and his wife have accumulated substantial debt; we later see their house in foreclosure. A man stumbles through a hallway and flops onto a bed (inebriated). Young boys use bows and arrows to shoot targets on a camping trip. A man and a boy use a large saw to cut a fallen tree in half during a contest on a camping trip.
► We understand that a man has an imaginary friend that we see throughout the movie and they talk to each other. A man asks his imaginary friend if he is God. A woman describes her very blue eyes as being caused by a genetic defect, and she explains that she also has very brittle bones. A man and a woman are shown to be exhausted and taxed when their newborn child cries a lot. A boy says that he has a migraine. A wife finds her husband sleeping in a closet after playing hide-and -eek with his son. We hear that a boy’s father is in prison and his mother has cancer.
► A young boy repeats loudly that he needs to use the bathroom in a crowded church; he uses the bathroom and runs out of the room wearing only his underwear. A man tells another man that he has feces on his hand after handling a diaper disposal bag (we do not see anything). A woman plays video games in a number of scenes and we see some carnage with blood splatter on the screen. A woman pours bottles of wine down a drain and tells a man that he has to stop drinking.

The Unbreakable Boy LANGUAGE 3

 – 1 scatological term, 1 anatomical term, 1 mild obscenity, name-calling (smoking hot, stupid, dumb-dumb, dummy, cursed, dork, ugly stepsister, peanut, daddio, selfish, lost, jerk, you’re the worst, silly goose, dimwit, ungrateful, regular mess, boring, insecure, sad, broken, messed up people, special, reckless, nonsense, irresponsible, chicks, one of those, retarded), exclamations (cool, shut-up, flippin’, who the heck, my man, oh man, what is the matter with you, dang, what’s your excuse), 6 religious exclamations (e.g. oh my God, God, Heaven). | profanity glossary |

The Unbreakable Boy SUBSTANCE USE

 – People at a party drink champagne and liquor, a man and a woman drink wine at a restaurant, a man drinks wine in many scenes, two men drink in a bar and one man is concerned when he leaves but the other man orders another drink, and two men drink beer in several scenes.

The Unbreakable Boy DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Love, osteogenesis imperfecta, people with autism, metaphors, ambition, unplanned pregnancy, making mistakes, imaginary friends, fear, suppressing emotions, alcoholism, fantasies, OCD.

The Unbreakable Boy MESSAGE

 – Plans change and it’s best to embrace whatever comes next.