Why is “The Running Man” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “strong violence, some gore, and language.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a couple of scenes of non-sexual partial nudity, a scene with scantily clad exotic dancers, a couple of kissing scenes, a woman and a child being shot to death, many scenes of people being put in life-threatening situations and dying by gunshot, arrows, flamethrowers and explosions, a death in a wood chipper, a plane losing altitude rapidly, discussions of manipulating people for financial gain, many arguments and over 40 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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A man (Glen Powell), desperate to help his young daughter by earning enough money to get her much needed medicine, finds himself becoming a pawn in an audience ratings grab by a ruthless and unscrupulous network exec (Josh Brolin). Also with Alyssa Benn, Sienna Benn, David Zayas, Greg Townley, Karl Glusman, Joey Ansah, James Frecheville, Alex Hoeffler and Lee Pace. Directed by Edgar Wright. [Running Time: 2:13]

The Running Man SEX/NUDITY 3

 – A man and a woman kiss in a few scenes. A woman touches another woman’s lips suggestively.
► A woman is described on a TV program and it is implied that she is a sex worker. A man wolf whistles at another man. A woman talks about a way to earn more tips at her work at a club and there is a sexual implication.
► A woman is shown in a club as scantily clad dancers (we see cleavage, bare abdomens, backs and buttocks) dance on poles and on a stage and the woman exclaims happily. A man wearing a towel around his waist rappels down the side of a building and removes the towel to protect his hand while punching a window; we see the man’s bare back, buttocks, legs and chest. A man wears a towel around his waist to bathe and we see his bare chest, abdomen to the hips, and back and legs to the knees. Women wearing skimpy outfits that reveal cleavage and legs dance with suggestive movements. A woman on a TV show wears a leotard that reveals her legs to the hips and she strikes a suggestive pose. A man wearing a tank T-shirt and briefs lies on his side in bed and slaps himself on the buttock before making an obscene hand gesture. A man wears his shirt open and we see his partial bare chest.

The Running Man VIOLENCE/GORE 7

 – A man is thrown into a chipper and blood and pieces of flesh spray on the wall. A man is shot in the head and blood spurts as he collapses. A man yells in pain as armed people question him, squeeze his hand in a vice and presumably kill him. A man is held with a gun to his head on TV and another man is shot with a bazooka from a distance (he blows up in a large explosion). A man blows himself up while yelling, “You can’t catch a ghost” (we see the blast). A woman is shot through the head with an arrow and is pinned to a tree (we see blood splatter). A woman runs from armed people, speeds away in a car and is set on fire by two boys with flamethrowers; we see her thrashing in flames and yelling. Two men run through a passage and one man is stabbed in the abdomen, the other man fights with the attacker and the attacker threatens to cut his Achilles and drag him outside; they continue to fight, one man has a bloody cut on his hand, and the other man is slashed on the back of the leg and falls to the ground yelling. Two men speed on dirt roads and are chased by a helicopter; one man is shot in the head (we see blood spurt). A man speeds across a bridge toward an oncoming vehicle and the man jumps off the bridge and into water below as the vehicles crash together and explode. Three men in the cockpit of a plane open fire trying to shoot a man and eventually shoot each other (blood sprays); the plane loses altitude, causing weapons to lift off the floor and float around the cockpit. A man climbs into a plane through a hatch and attacks another man; they fight, one man is slashed on the abdomen with a knife; one man’s face is slammed into a mirror and he pulls a shard of glass out of his eye (we see blood and the shard), a window is shot out of the plane and another man’s parachute is pulled through the opening pinning him against the opening and he falls motionless. Bottles containing flaming flammable liquid are thrown toward a stage where a man and several armed people are standing, flames burst around them, they run away, one man trips on a cable, and falls on the floor as people clamber over barriers toward him, and another man holds a gun on the man and shoots him. A video shows a woman and her child being shot by many armed people.
► A plane plummets toward a high-rise building where we are told many people are inside and a missile is fired at the plane blowing it up midair. Gunfire sprays into a house and two men run through hallways; one man flips a switch to electrify the floor and then shoots water at armed people as they enter (we see electricity shooting around the people as they fall), others are sprayed with a flamethrower and others are thrown off a flight of stairs onto the floor below while they continue shooting. Armed men search for a man in a hotel and he hides behind a door, climbs outside the building and along a ledge, he rappels down the side of the building and is shot at by gunmen on the ground (please see the Sex/Nudity category for more details), he punches a window, breaking the glass and climbs into a room. Armed men stop a car and hold the occupants at gunpoint; the two gunmen are shot and fall dead with blood splatter. Armed people shoot through a door and a man on the other side of the door jumps out a window, catches a rope and climbs down; he scrambles into an elevator as a gunman approaches, he throws a grenade at the gunman that kicks it back at him and it explodes sending the elevator car down and blasting flames all around. A man lights a flammable liquid causing an explosion that ignites a building, he follows rats into a drain and flames chase him as he falls into water. A man is hidden in the trunk of a car, people on motorcycles shoot at the back of the car and we see bullet holes open in the trunk; the man throws a tire iron at the motorcycles and one falls, the other continues shooting until the car stops short and it crashes into the car and the rider is thrown over the roof; the car speeds in reverse hitting one rider and then speeds forward hitting the other as he shoots. A man punches another man in the face and runs away chased by a car, he climbs a fence and the car crashes through it continuing to chase him. A man breaks the window of a car and tells the driver to reverse to avoid a chase vehicle; the driver struggles to disengage the auto drive and control the car.
► A man has a nightmare that armed people enter a hotel where he is sleeping and one enters his room, holds a gun to his head and pulls the trigger. During a game show competition, a man runs in a wheel while answering questions and when he cannot answer one question, he is dropped to the ground below and we see him motionless with blood around his head (presumably dead). Three people are put in handcuffs and then into chutes where they are dropped a great distance (we hear groaning) and stop in a dark passage where a table holds supplies and changes of clothes to begin a survival challenge. A man imagines slamming another man’s head into a desk (we hear a crunch).
► A man standing in a line for gameshow tryouts seems ill and vomits (we see goo) before collapsing and another man catches him and calls for help; a security person says, “No helping” and tasers the man for helping and beats him (he has a bloody cut on his lip). A man grabs a boy through seats on a train and threatens him; the boy tells him that his mustache is falling off. A man yells and chases a boy as he runs away calling the man names and making an obscene gesture with his arm. A man grabs a boy in the street and the child struggles to get away. A game show tryout includes several agility and strength tests with obstacle courses and we see contestants falling and being disqualified; one man falls and another catches his hand and helps him back up. People take target practice shooting at watermelons.
► A man goes to a hotel where he rides an elevator that stops between floors and many rats skitter through the hallways. A man walks through garbage-strewn alleys and streets as security vehicles patrol the areas and announcements are made over loudspeakers about harboring fugitives being punishable by death, and loitering being prosecuted. A bird slams into a window and startles a man inside. A woman laughs maniacally several times and we are told that she is hard of hearing.
► A man in a taxi tells the driver not to photograph him, they argue and he tells the driver to stop and ask a sex worker to take their picture together; the driver stops and the passenger runs away. A man threatens to choke a man out and punches a glass divider between them breaking it. A man argues with his ex-boss and asks for his job back; he is denied and becomes angry threatening the man before leaving. A man and a woman argue about the lengths they are each considering taking in order to get enough money for medicine for their child. Women on a TV show argue about one wearing the other’s shoes. A man on a bench in a dark street yells manically. A man says that a child developed lung cancer from radioactive dust in the air. We hear that a child has cancer and her family is unable to afford proper treatment.
► A man equips another man with disguises, fake IDs, explosives and a weapon before he leaves to undertake a survival competition. A toddler coughs repeatedly and we hear that she has had a fever for a week. A man smells his own armpit and recoils.

The Running Man LANGUAGE 9

 – About 41 F-words and its derivatives, 6 obscene hand gestures, 2 sexual references, 45 scatological terms, 25 anatomical terms, 29 mild obscenities, name-calling (crazy, jerk, disgusting, devil, fake, chump, insane, psychopath, unpredictable, stupid, murderer, dumb, savage, demon, welf, murder show, goon, crooked, wasted, losers, circus, gutsy, savages, cow, idiot, angriest, hooker, dead meat), exclamations (fricking, chill out, calm down, whoa, uh-huh, shut-up), 6 religious profanities (GD), 14 religious exclamations (e.g. oh God, thank God, oh my God, Godspeed, Jesus, Lordy). | profanity glossary |

The Running Man SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man smokes what looks like a marijuana cigarette, and people talk about buying street drugs vs. real drugs. A man holds a bottle of champagne and a glass, a woman holds a glass of champagne, a man drinks a glass of whiskey, and a man drinks bottles of beer in a few scenes.

The Running Man DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Desperation, morality, radiation exposure, dystopia, insubordination, guilt, truth, martyrdom, conscience, ideas, destiny, karma, human nature, people as fodder, anger, gladiators, obedience, hate, society, bloodlust, TV ratings, chaos, unionization, anarchy.

The Running Man MESSAGE

 – Manipulating people for financial gain is wicked. Bullies are cowards.