The Climb | 2019 | R | – 6.4.10

Why is “The Climb” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “language, sexual content, some nudity and brief drug use.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes an oral sex scene, a possible sex scene, several kissing scenes and discussion of infidelity, and some nudity that includes a glimpse of male genitalia; many arguments, discussions of betrayal, a skiing accident ending in a broken arm, a near drowning in a frozen lake, and a few punch-ups with a few cuts and bruises; and over 70 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Two men (Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin), friends since high school, struggle to find their place in the world through love and death and betrayal, while their toxic relationship somehow endures. Also with Gayle Rankin, Judith Godrèche, Talia Balsam, George Wendt, Daniella Covino, Eden Malyn, Meredith Holzman and Todd Barry. Directed by Michael Angelo Covino. A woman speaks a couple of words in French with English subtitles. A couple of song lyrics are in Spanish and French without translation. [Running Time: 1:34]

The Climb SEX/NUDITY 6

 – A man and a woman yell at each other and kiss passionately; he puts her on a bookshelf, removes her underwear and skirt and performs oral sex on her, as she moans and knocks things off the shelf (we see part of her bare abdomen and thigh).
► A fully nude man lies on a bed waiting for his fiancée to join him and he falls asleep; she tries to wake him and we see her flip his penis and she leaves the room (we see a glimpse of the flaccid penis). A woman wears a corset and underwear (cleavage, partial abdomen and legs to the hips are seen) and tries to wake up her fiancé to have sex. A woman’s top shifts and reveals cleavage and part of her bare breast. A woman adjusts her dress and we see deep cleavage. Women at a wedding wear low-cut and short dresses that reveal cleavage and bare legs to the upper thighs. A man takes off his pants and unbuttons his shirt (we see his chest, abdomen, boxer briefs and legs) as he dances around a pole and lip syncs to a song.
► A man tells a woman that he loves her (she is marrying his friend) and they kiss passionately (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A man kisses a woman and she recoils and confronts him about it. A man and a woman in a movie theater kiss noisily and people around them seem bothered. A woman kisses a man and tells him that she wants to be naked in every room with him and to have sex in every room with him. A man and a woman hug in greeting.
► A woman says that she and her fiancé are going to get married after an interruption and that she is pregnant; the priest refuses to marry them until after the child is born because pregnancy puts undo pressure on relationships and states that 51% of marriages end in divorce. A man asks another man if he and his fiancée are going to have sex on New Year’s Eve. A man tells his friend that everybody says sex goes downhill after marriage and he says, “It didn’t, it got real crazy.” A woman says that a drug is Viagra for women. A man talks about someone being knocked “right out of his jockstrap” during a high school sporting event. A man says, “It’s not a bachelor party without a stripper.” A woman reads a quote at a wedding, stating that a woman should, “Submit to your husband.”
► A woman (she’s implied to be an exotic dancer) arrives at a fishing shack where several men are gathered for a bachelor party.

The Climb VIOLENCE/GORE 4

 – A man falls through ice on a frozen lake and he disappears underwater; another man tries to help him out and he can’t find him until the first man pops back up through the opening and climbs out. We hear squealing tires and yelling and see that a cyclist has been run off the road and he and the driver of the car are fighting; the car driver kicks the cyclist several times and he moans and gasps (he has a cut on his face and a bruised rib). A man tries to shovel some dirt into his wife’s grave and a worker stops him telling him that it is a “union cemetery”; the first man swings the shovel at the man and others tackle him before another man can pull them away (no injuries are shown). Two men run toward a man shoveling snow, they punch him several times, drag him to a car, put him in the back and punch him in the face; they then take him to a forest blindfolded and it turns out to be a bachelor party kidnapping. A woman confronts a man about kissing her and she tells him to have sex with her, she straddles his lap, he picks her up and she grabs his casted arm, he drops her on a sofa and the scene ends (it’s not clear if they had sex). A man enters a church during a wedding and says that he objects; the bride charges toward him and punches him in the face.
► A car honks and moves closer behind two cyclists on a two-lane road; one biker yells and tells him to go around and he eventually does, honking and yelling at the cyclists. A man collapses on a table and breaks it; people try to revive him and he seems very drunk. A man in a car honks at a man for parking a truck in the street; the car with the truck yells at the firs man, jumps on the hood of his car and they yell at each other until the driver of the car gets out and charges toward the other man to fight him (they don’t fight). A man runs across a street in front of a car and the driver honks and yells at him. A man crashes his car into a parking lot outside a church. A man removes the training wheels from his young son’s bike and the boy falls off the bike (he is unharmed), and then rides without a problem.
► A man confesses to having a sexual relationship with another man’s fiancée as they bike on a mountain road and the other man says, “If I catch you, I’m gonna kill you,” while he runs carrying his bike. A man sees his fiancée kissing his friend and he yells and storms away. A man and a woman practice saying “no” and end up yelling at each other. A woman reprimands a man for hurting her adult son and says, “He was destroyed by it.” A man and a woman argue about another man’s athletic ability. Two men argue bitterly in a few scenes. A man tells another man that his fiancée isn’t good enough for him. Grieving people gather in a cemetery and a man speaks over his wife’s casket. A man drives away from his house in a moving truck and his young son runs after him calling, “Dad, wait for me”; he is moving a few doors down the road.
► A man talks about previous relationships and how the other party wanted him to be someone else; he says that one person, “…made me become an atheist for a year.” A man says, “I’ve been getting fat” and another man tells him, “Most people lose weight before their weddings.” A man says that another man is physically fine, but not emotionally, after telling him about an infidelity. Family members talk about a woman breaking up with a man in high school.
► A dog pulls a turkey off a table and onto the kitchen floor; the dog is quickly taken outside. Heavy breathing accompanies opening credits and the scene opens with two men biking on a mountain road. A man burps loudly in a few scenes after drinking heavily. A man is shown with his arm in a cast after a skiing accident. A man drops a box of plates breaking all but one.

The Climb LANGUAGE 10

 – About 72 F-words and its derivatives, 2 sexual references, 13 scatological terms, 5 anatomical terms, 4 mild obscenities, name-calling (hooligan, chickadee, stupid, meaningless, fat, lazy, impotent, pathetic, idiot, toxic, loud, obnoxious, primal creatures, big pharma, kiddo, ladykiller, disgusting, bad friend, selfish, dumb, sick), exclamations (shut-up, hey, no), 2 religious profanities (GD), 15 religious exclamations (e.g. Oh My God, Jesus, Judas, Holy [scatological term deleted]). | profanity glossary |

The Climb SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man snorts cocaine in a fishing shack. A woman mixes and serves cocktails at a family holiday gathering, a man guzzles from a liquor bottle in his car, two men play a drinking game taking shots of Jägermeister and become drunk, and a man and a woman drink shots while talking. A woman smokes a cigarette in a basement, two men and a woman smoke outside a house, and a man smokes on a ski lift.

The Climb DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Friendship, toxic relationships, marriage, divorce, mistakes, betrayal, infidelity, reincarnation, Heaven, death of a loved one, family.

The Climb MESSAGE

 – Love and friendship are difficult and can often be painful.