Why is “Black Bag” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “language including some sexual references, and some violence.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a couple of implied sex scenes and partial nudity, a few kissing scenes, discussions of erotica, infidelity and monogamy, a death by ingesting a chemical, a death by gunshot and a car explosion causing two deaths, a knife being plunged in a man’s hand, several threats of outing people for their lies and betrayal, several arguments and nearly 30 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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When a traitor is suspected among a group of British spies, a prominent agent (Michael Fassbender) is tasked with investigating his wife (Cate Blanchett), who’s also a secret agent, and as the investigation reveals many secrets, he is confronted with a conundrum: Does he compromise his loyalty to his marriage or to his country? Also with Tom Burke, Marisa Abela, Regé-Jean Page, Naomie Harris, Gustaf Skarsgård and Pierce Brosnan. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. [Running Time: 1:33]

Black Bag SEX/NUDITY 5

 – A wife sits on a bed wearing a camisole (we see her bare legs to the thighs and shoulders), she caresses her husband’s clothed chest, she lies on the bed on her stomach and her husband straddles her as she asks him to scratch her back; she rolls over and they then kiss (sex is implied). A husband and his wife lie in bed and kiss (both are clothed). A wife embraces her husband from behind and kisses his ear. People in a nightclub dance on a crowded dance floor.
► A man accuses a woman of using ecstasy and having multiple sexual partners apart from her boyfriend. A woman becomes enraged when she hears that the man she is dating is being unfaithful (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A man asks another man about his wife and it is implied that the man has been unfaithful; he says that he wishes it wasn’t so easy to cheat. A comment is made about someone emailing “those pictures” without detail provided. A man and a woman discuss her liking erotic fiction. A woman mocks another woman about having been raised Catholic and liking erotica. A man refers to having sex with a woman in her office.
► A woman removes her robe and we see her wearing a bra and petti pants as her husband watches from the door (we see cleavage, bare back, shoulders, abdomen, partial buttocks and legs). Women in and outside a nightclub wear low-cut dresses that reveal cleavage, bare shoulders and backs.

Black Bag VIOLENCE/GORE 5

 – A man holds a gun on another man and pulls the trigger twice, discharging blanks; the first man is shot in the head and blood and matter spray on the wall behind him. A man drinks a glass of whiskey and begins to tremble; he holds his chest, collapses against a glass table shattering it and thrashes on the ground (we understand that he died). A woman stabs a man in the hand with a knife and we see his hand pinned to the table as others rush to help him (we see his hand bandaged later). A drone flies into a vehicle and it explodes causing it to flip in the air in flames (we briefly see the two occupants of the vehicle in flames). A woman holds a gun on a man when he appears at her front door unannounced.
► A man says that he laced a dish that he is serving for a dinner party with DZM5 and tells his wife not to eat any of it. There are several references to “thousands of innocent people will die.” A wife asks her husband, “Would you kill for me?” A woman tells a man that she is dating, “I hate you.” A woman breaks up with a man and he becomes upset; she tells him that she is seeing someone else. A man says that he drinks too much and another man tells him that the pills are becoming a problem too. A man talks about another man surveilling his own father and talks about his infidelity. A man tells a woman, “It’d be a real drag to have to kill you.” A woman says that a man has a suffocating fear of death. A woman describes a medication that she takes causing her to feel filled with rage if she takes too much of it. A woman says, “I’ll not end up like my mother.” A woman is asked if she has ever assaulted anyone during an argument while taking a polygraph test. A woman says of a man, “You will rip yourself apart before he eats you.”
► A plate is served to a man in a restaurant and we see a whole fish that appears to still be alive; a woman tells him that eating those fish is illegal. A body wrapped in a tarp is dropped into a lake from a boat (blood seeps into the water).

Black Bag LANGUAGE 7

 – About 28 F-words, 3 sexual references, 13 scatological terms, 2 anatomical terms, 8 mild obscenities, name-calling (rat, shrink, psychotic, pathological, needy, lunatic, boring, dirty tricks, moron, sloppy, stupid, piece of work, cold, liars, awkward, paranoia, naughty), exclamations (mucking around, that’s so hot), 5 religious exclamations (e.g. oh God, my God, Jesus, what in God’s name). | profanity glossary |

Black Bag SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man says that he laced a dish that he is serving for a dinner party with DZM5, a man accuses a woman of using ecstasy, a chemical is sprayed into a glass, and a woman describes the medications she takes to try to sleep. People drink alcohol in a nightclub scene, a man drinks a glass of whiskey (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details), a man drinks a glass of wine while cooking, people drink in a bar, a man and a woman drink glasses of wine, and a man says that he drinks too much. A man vapes outside a nightclub.

Black Bag DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Spies, treason, infidelity, loyalty, lying, monogamy, hostility, amorality, malware, deception, polygraph tests, forgiveness, loyalty.

Black Bag MESSAGE

 – Loyalty is key to any relationship.