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Breaking | 2022 | PG-13 | – 1.4.5
Why is “Breaking” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “some violent content, and strong language.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a gunshot that kills someone with blood shown, an extended hostage situation with threats of blowing up the building where they are held, many arguments, many discussions of the mishandling of veterans’ affairs and payments, and at least 3 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.
Based on a true story: When a man (John Boyega) is denied his disability benefits, he takes matters into his own hands by holding up a bank and demanding that someone listen to his story. Also with Nicole Beharie, Selenis Leyva, Michael Kenneth Williams, Connie Britton, Jeffrey Donovan, Olivia Washington and London Covington. Directed by Abi Damaris Corbin. [Running Time: 1:43]
Breaking SEX/NUDITY 1
– Women wear low-cut tops that reveal cleavage in several scenes.
Breaking VIOLENCE/GORE 4
– We hear a gunshot and glass breaks as a woman screams and we see blood on her leg; a body is seen as blood pools on the floor under it and splattered around the area. A man pulls on the locked doors of a bank and it sounds like gunshots, causing a man inside the bank to panic and jump on a woman and pin her on the floor to protect her, and she screams.
► A man tells a woman to stand in front of him fearing that the police will shoot him. A man holds what he says is a detonator for an explosive and yells inside a bank, calling for a negotiator to hear his demands. Two bank employees are shown crying and very frightened throughout the movie. A man holding up a bank jumps over a counter and startles a woman, causing her to cry and scream. Snipers prepare and take aim at a bank where a man is holding hostages.
► A man becomes anxious when he suspects that the police have snipers trained on him; he rushes around inside a bank disconnecting the security cameras and closing the blinds. Several armed police officers break open the door of a hotel room and search the room. Many law enforcement representatives arrive at the scene of a bank robbery and hostage situation and set up extensive equipment. We see soldiers on the ground in Iraq as a helicopter flies overhead and we hear gunfire in the distance. A man is slammed to the floor of an office by police officers and placed in handcuffs as he yells and pleads for money that is owed to him. A man in handcuffs is led forcibly out of a building by two police officers; a woman returns his glasses as he is released and we see a bruise on his cheek. A bomb-extracting robot rolls through a bank and takes out a backpack, placing it in an explosive containment module.
► A man goes into a bank and looks around nervously, goes to a teller and asks to take money from his account, and then passes her a note that reads, “I have a bomb.” A man holding up a bank tells a police operator that he is going to blow himself and everyone else in the building up if he doesn’t get what he is demanding. A man says that his brother put out a hit on him and offered $20,000 to have him killed; he says his brother is involved in some sort of cult.
► A man says that he knows he is going to die because the police will “spray and pray.” A woman says that she had a patient die that morning. A police commander at the scene of a bank robbery and hostage situation tells a police negotiator that he is being “highly emotional.” A woman in a bank writes a text to her young son fearing that she is going to die during a robbery. A man says, “We both know I’m dying here.” A woman asks, “Is he dead?” in several scenes. A woman imagines her young son asking her, “What did you do to keep him from dying?” referring to a bank robber. A man asks his young daughter to pray with him over the phone. We read that the subject of the film has still not received a disability payment owed to him for $892.34 since 2017.
► A bank manager sends customers and staff out of the building when she realizes that they are being robbed. Several scenes show homeless people camped under overpasses and living on the streets of a city. Many people are shown seated and lined up at a veterans’ affairs office.
► A very frightened woman tells another woman that she can’t move because she is so scared and we see urine trickling onto the floor between her legs. A man trims his toenails over a toilet.
Breaking LANGUAGE 5
– About 3 F-words, 5 scatological terms, 12 mild obscenities, 1 derogatory term for African-American people, name-calling (fool, dumb, slow, thief, psychopath, big dog, stupid), exclamations (wait, calm down, stay calm), 7 religious exclamations (e.g. Lord, my God, Amen, thank God, Jesus, God). | profanity glossary |
Breaking SUBSTANCE USE
– A woman asks a man if he has gone off his medication (we don’t know for what). A man smokes a cigarette in a street, and a man smokes a cigarette outside a bank.
Breaking DISCUSSION TOPICS
– Veteran support, mental health, truth, lying, parenting, desperation, news media, feeling alone and without support, exploitation, human error.
Breaking MESSAGE
– Do right by people. Admit when you are wrong and fix it.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare - 5.7.5
Abigail - 1.9.10
Sasquatch Sunset - 8.7.0
Sting - 1.7.7
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