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Devotion | 2022 | PG-13 | – 2.5.4
Why is “Devotion” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “strong language, some war action/violence, and smoking.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a few kissing and flirting scenes, two plane crashes that lead to the death of the pilots, a few scenes of battle on the ground and in planes, a fight in a café, several arguments, racist remarks, and some strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.
Inspired by the true story of a celebrated naval aviator (Jonathan Majors) at the start of the Korean War, who confronted racism in order to be able to serve. Also with Glen Powell, Christina Jackson, Thomas Sadoski, Daren Kagasoff, Joe Jonas, Spencer Neville, Nick Hargrove, Boone Platt, Dean Denton, Thad Luckinbill and Joseph Cross. Directed by J.D. Dillard. [Running Time: 2:18]
Devotion SEX/NUDITY 2
– A husband sneaks up behind his wife and hugs her, startling her; they hug, kiss, and dance briefly. A wife sits on her husband’s lap and they kiss tenderly. A husband and his wife hug and kiss in a few scenes. A man and woman kiss at a café.
► Men flirt with women in a casino and café. Men talk about another man’s “pretty” face and one man says, “He’s almost too pretty,” to which the man says, “You guys seem lonely.” A man talks about girls not liking men with “participation medals,” and that they want to marry true war heroes. A man says that a plane is “awful purdy.” A man says that he “had something going” with a woman before another man came along. A husband writes to his wife and addresses her as “My dear sweet angel.”
► Women wear low-cut dresses that reveal cleavage in several scenes. Women wear swimsuits on a beach and we see cleavage, bare shoulders, abdomens, backs and legs to the hips. A man is shown shirtless in a medical exam and we see his bare back covered with bruises.
Devotion VIOLENCE/GORE 5
– A pilot flies toward an aircraft carrier and a flag person signals that he is too low, and he does not pull up until the last minute, causing the plane to flip and crash into the ocean (we see other pilots grieving over the lost pilot). A man’s plane is shown leaking oil and the propeller stops turning while flying; he targets a clearing to land, he drops his explosives and empties his weapons, crashes through treetops and to the ground and we see flames burning in the plane; another plane ditches to help the pilot out as they are told to scuttle the planes so the enemy won’t get them, a rescue helicopter arrives to help and the first pilot is trapped in the wreckage and cannot be pulled free (he dies eventually). A very fast moving plane flies near a squadron of other planes and disappears; two planes search for it and it fires on them; they move away and avoid being struck and separate so one of them can shoot it down (we see the explosion).
► A pilot flies toward an aircraft carrier and is too high; he tries to land but is not in the right position so he takes another pass and lands safely the second time while others watch anxiously. Men are shown in trenches with snow falling on them and they complain of the cold; a flare is shot into the sky, gunfire breaks out and a couple of men are struck and thrown (one man touches his side; he might have been struck). Several men shove each other and fight with a couple of punches landing and they run away when the police arrive; one man limps away. A man is shown shirtless in a medical exam and we see bruises on his back.
► Planes are flown over a river, they dive down and fly toward a bridge that they blow up as they are being fired upon; other planes drop explosives on train tracks below and one pilot goes back alone to fire on another bridge, despite his flight leader’s orders not to do so. A commander says that men are pinned down on the ground by the enemy and that they could use some air support; we see planes flying overhead, firing on men on the ground and dropping explosives.
► Planes take off in pairs and fly together; one pair of planes flies low over water, they buzz boats in the water and swoop down close to houses. Pilots test out new planes and test weapons by shooting and dropping explosives on targets on the ground (we see explosions). A helicopter lands on an aircraft carrier and unloads a wounded person on a stretcher (we do not see injuries). Pilots test landing a plane on an aircraft carrier and other pilots bet on whether they will make it.
► Pilots run through passageways on an aircraft carrier and out to the deck and they are timed. People in an aircraft hangar are shown working on planes and we see sparks fly from saws and torches. A wife is notified of her husband’s death in battle and she grieves; we later see a memorial and medal presentation.
► A man describes being tested during his training by men that didn’t believe “a [derogatory term for African-American people deleted] could swim.” A White man mocks an African-American man and tap dances saying that he saw the “circus act” taking place on deck with photographers; another white man confronts the first man, he becomes quiet, and they leave.
► A commander tells pilots that they will not be able to retrieve a pilot’s body and that it is too dangerous to try. A commander tells pilots that a reconnaissance plane went down and that they need to be on alert. A commander tells pilots that they will be undertaking a dangerous mission and that they should get their affairs in order. A commander tells pilots not to accidentally blow anything up on the Chinese side of a river or they will risk starting another war. A husband tells his wife that he is leaving on a military mission and she is sad. A man says that he crashed a plane when he was learning to fly. A man talks into a mirror and says insulting and confrontational things; we hear later that he is repeating things that people have said to him before. Men complain about being bored and doing, “post-war busy work.” A pilot complains of being stuck in “this sardine can.” A man complains that the war ended just before he graduated from the academy so he didn’t see any action. A woman smoking on her front porch looks at a man as he comes home to his house next door and she stares at him but does not acknowledge his greeting. A woman is surprised that an African-American man is a pilot in the Navy and she says, “How enlightened.” A man is upset when he finds out that a mission report indicates that he was insubordinate and he explains that it means something different for him (an African-American man) than for a White man. A man has a diary of all the hateful things anyone has ever said to him and he reads it to remind himself. A pilot remarks that a magazine doing a story on another pilot is trying to show, “A Black man makes good,” and others look at him disparagingly. A man tells another man that they should not have let another man “run his mouth.” Two men argue and one tells the other, “You don’t die if you do what you’re told.” A man says, “War never ends.” A man asks another man, “Did you change your diaper yet?” A man tells another man that he thinks he is helping him when he is looking down on him and they argue briefly.
► A woman carrying a paint-filled paintbrush playfully chases her husband and young daughter through the house until they are interrupted by police saying that they received a noise complaint from a neighbor. People play roulette and gamble in a casino.
Devotion LANGUAGE 4
– 1 obscene hand gesture, 3 sexual references, 8 scatological terms, 6 anatomical terms, 13 mild obscenities, 7 derogatory terms for African-American people, 4 derogatory terms for German people, name-calling (America’s forgotten war, slick, mean old hen, widow maker, unspeakable, stupid, mundane, the Reds, pretty wild, show off, sly dog, monkey [anatomical term deleted]), exclamations (play nice, famous last words, go away), 7 religious exclamations (e.g. Jesus, God help you, dear God, God honor and country, dear God send us some angels). | profanity glossary |
Devotion SUBSTANCE USE
– A man tells another man he’ll buy him a beer and he says he doesn’t drink, several people at a dinner drink beer, men and women drink in a casino and a café, and a man and a woman drink from bottles of beer. Men smoke cigarettes in a briefing room, people smoke cigarettes in a café, a man smokes a pipe in a few scenes, a man straps packs of cigarettes to his chest planning to sell them while on shore leave in France, and a woman smokes on her front porch.
Devotion DISCUSSION TOPICS
– Racism, The Korean War, World War II, the Big Show, Pearl Harbor, Navy, trust, teamwork, Life Magazine, confrontations with Russia and China, instincts.
Devotion MESSAGE
– Commitment and friendship can foster understanding.
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.
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