Why is “Better Man” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “drug use, pervasive language, sexual content, nudity and some violent content.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes an implied sex scene between a man and three women, a scene of manual stimulation, scenes of partially nude men dancing in a club, scenes of five young men wearing skimpy stage costumes, discussions of sexual encounters, imagined sequences of a car crash into a body of water, an attempted suicide, a battle with swords and spears, a fall from a balcony, many arguments, and over 100 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Based on the life of Robbie Williams, singer-songwriter of the British pop group “Take That,” portrayed as an anthropomorphic chimpanzee (Jonno Davies; voiced by Williams and Davies): A young boy dreams of being a famous performer after watching his father and listening to singers like Frank Sinatra. However, when he reaches his goal and seemingly gets everything he wants, the pressure pushes him to the brink. Also with Steve Pemberton, Alison Steadman, Kate Mulvany, Frazer Hadfield, Damon Herriman and Raechelle Banno. Directed by Michael Gracey. [Running Time: 2:14]

Better Man SEX/NUDITY 7

 – A man lies in bed with three nude women embracing him; we see the man’s bare chest and abdomen and the women’s bare breasts, abdomens, legs and the side of their buttocks (sex is implied). A teen girl manually stimulates a young man after a concert and he tells her to stop when he sees a man watching them; he then masturbates until climaxing.
► Men wearing skimpy outfits (we see bare chests, abdomens, backs and buttocks) dance in a club and young men in a band onstage, also wearing skimpy outfits (we see bare chests, abdomens, backs and buttocks), dance with hip-thrusting gestures and sing on stage. Young men wear skimpy costumes during concerts and we see their bare chests, abdomens, backs and buttocks. A young man and a young woman dance together with lifts, twirls and embraces; the woman’s dress flips up to reveal her legs to the hips. A man gives another man a lotion bottle, pulls down his swim trunks to reveal his partial bare buttocks, and asks the other man to apply the lotion on his back and he does so.
► A young man proposes to a young woman and she accepts. A man talks about his wife sleeping with another man. A man is asked about his sex life on a TV interview show. Five young men present a “safe sex” talk in a school and talk about using protection. A man describes “ethnic babushka dolls,” and refers to one being “inside” the other and that they all “fit snugly inside” the last one. A young man talks about having slept with gay men and that he questioned his sexuality. A girl talks about a member of the audience watching a play she is performing in and refers to his “big bulge” (we do not see the person she is referring to). A teen boy swoons over another teen boy dancing for an audition. A young man talks about being in a band and says that their manager booked them at gay clubs and they became the band for the gay scene. A young man describes himself as “the sexy, talented one.”
► We understand that a young woman is pregnant, we then see her and a young man in a medical facility and it appears that she has miscarried. A woman finds a fingernail in her bed and understands that her fiancé has been with another woman.
► Two young women standing at a gate as a car speeds toward them open their blouses to reveal their bare breasts. A woman bathes a boy in a bathtub (we see his shoulders and partial chest). A woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage.

Better Man VIOLENCE/GORE 6

 – A man imagines an audience filled with versions of himself goading him and he jumps off the stage and attacks them with a sword and a spear stabbing and slashing them: one person’s head is lopped off (we see it separate with blood splatter and it is thrown through the air), and we see blood gushing and splattering and he pins a young child to the ground stabbing her through the chest.
► A young man speeds in a car toward a gate where many people are gathered; they dodge out of the way just as he crashes through the gate and swerves onto a road where he dodges traffic and passes cars and the scene cuts to his car sinking into water as he is surrounded by many people underwater clambering after him, and he sees that he is trapped under ice and cannot get out (this appears to be an imagined scene). A man slashes his own wrist with a razor blade and blood drips on the ground; he puts the blade to his other wrist but does not cut himself again.
► Many scenes show a man imagining himself on stage while audience members (himself, in different stages of his life) threaten him; they talk about killing him and that he is useless and he becomes distracted briefly while performing, but then resumes and one sequence shows one of the imagined people covered with blood. A man hyperventilates and seems terrified before doing a radio performance. A man lies unconscious on a door floating in a pond with an empty liquor bottle next to him; another man wades into the water to try to revive him and they argue until the second man leaves. A man is shown in rehab and we see him going through withdrawal, with vomiting (we see goo), quaking, and paranoia.
► A man gets a phone call telling him that his grandmother died and we see people gathered at a funeral as a coffin is lowered into the ground. A man leaves his wife and son and doesn’t return. A young man and a young woman argue bitterly and she slides her engagement ring on the floor under a door before storming out of the room; the young man chases her, they continue arguing and he stumbles out the door and over a balcony railing, falling many floors to the ground (the fall is an imagined sequence). A man in a rage throws things around his home shattering glass and he falls to the floor.
► We understand that a young woman is pregnant, we then see her and a young man in a medical facility and it appears that she has miscarried. A young man is passed out onstage when a performance begins and other band members sing and dance until he revives and joins in; he stumbles and missteps a few times. A boy is frustrated when he is not chosen to play soccer with his friends; he is struck by the ball several times while playing and ends up falling into the mud when hit in the back of the head by the ball. A boy trips and falls onto a stage for a performance and plays it off as purposeful. Four young men tell another young man that they want to be just a band of four and that they don’t want to work with him anymore; he leaves and speeds away in a car.
► Two men argue about success and disappointment; one says that his wife has left him and the other complains about success being crippling. A woman is upset when press and fans gather outside their home cheering and she closes the curtains to be able to go to sleep. A boy sings with his father and swings around knocking a TV antenna over and causing his father to become upset and yell at him. During a big dance number where five young men dance through busy streets, several people are struck and knocked down by a door opening, a ball being kicked, and a giant gumball machine spilling gumballs on the ground (no injuries are shown).
► A young man talks about suffering from depression and being clinically depressed. A young man talks to his father about the pressure of fame and that it is overwhelming; his father is dismissive. A man tells five teen boys (members of a band) that they are all going to hate each other in five years. A boy is upset when his father doesn’t show up for his stage performance at school. A young man refers to a “battery to the scrotum.”
► A man takes a lot of drugs and drinks a lot of alcohol and vomits (we see goo). A man is passed out in bed and we see vomit on the pillow and bed next to him. A boy is afraid to go onstage and perform during a school play. A boy sings a song about wanting to feel real love as his father leaves him. A teen boy talks about dying alone.

Better Man LANGUAGE 10

 – About 102 F-words, 3 obscene hand gestures, 3 sexual references, 17 scatological terms, 21 anatomical terms, 5 mild obscenities, name-calling (twat, grubby, useless, nobody, ugly, stupid, boozing, unnecessary, small, idiot, wimp, nob head, up the duff, sexy masked lady, sadomasochist, crippling, helpless, baby, retarded, bad guy, farmyard animal, scum, posh, pudgy fingers, pervert, terrifying, not good at anything, cheeky, dirty, overwhelming, cheeky little bastard, disgrace, show off, naughty, sweetheart, first class [anatomical term deleted]), exclamations (bloody well, don’t embarrass yourself, rubbish, bollocks, shut-up), 5 religious exclamations (e.g. oh my God, Jesus, Jesus Christ). | profanity glossary |

Better Man SUBSTANCE USE

 – A young man snorts cocaine in numerous scenes, a man snorts cocaine off a young woman’s bare chest, a young man talks about having a “raging cocaine habit,” a man snorts a lot of cocaine, a man has cocaine on his finger and rubs it on his gums in a few scenes, a man heats a drug on a spoon over a lighter flame and ingests it, and a young man takes a Prozac pill and guzzles a small bottle of liquor. A man drinks beer and a woman drinks a glass of liquor, people drink and smoke at a party, people drink shots of liquor at a bar, people drink champagne at a celebration, two men on a TV show are seen drinking pints of beer, and people drink and smoke at a pub. A young man smokes cigarettes in several scenes, and a man smokes cigarettes in numerous scenes.

Better Man DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Fame, boy bands, the music industry, death of a loved one, inspiration, songwriting, drug addiction, alcohol abuse, attempted suicide, depression, revenge, family, forgiveness, repairing relationships, solo careers, regret.

Better Man MESSAGE

 – It can be a curse to get everything we want.