Dog | 2022 | PG-13 | – 2.4.5

Why is “Dog” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “language, thematic elements, drug content and some suggestive material.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a near sex scene, some flirting and some partial nudity, several scenes of a barking, snarling dog and a few bites (no blood is shown), a trail of blood from an injured dog, photos of an injured dog, discussion of trauma, anxiety and PTSD (both in humans and dogs), a suicide, several arguments, seizures caused by brain trauma, and at least 2 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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After a traumatic brain injury an Army Ranger (Channing Tatum) is trying to get back to work, but is not permitted until he makes a deal to deliver the dog of a fellow Ranger to the man’s funeral. Because the dog also suffers from trauma from its combat service, the two must figure out how to communicate and get along. Also with Kevin Nash, Jane Adams, Darren Keilan and Eric Urbiztondo. Directed by Reid Carolin & Channing Tatum. [Running Time: 1:41]

Dog SEX/NUDITY 2

 – Two women hug a man (one from the front and the other from the back) as they talk about releasing an energy and one woman asks for permission to remove his shirt; they take the man’s shirt off (we see his bare chest, abdomen and back), and the man asks if he has permission to remove one woman’s shirt and she declines. Two women talk to a man about what they do and that they help people achieve the full potential of sexual pleasure. A man talks to a dog about going out for drinks and having sex with someone he meets. A man is in a bathtub and we see his bare back, chest and abdomen. A man wearing boxer briefs is shown a few times and we see his bare chest, abdomen, legs and back.

Dog VIOLENCE/GORE 4

 – A dog jumps out of the back of a truck and runs through a forest with a man chasing it, the man finds a bloody trail in the leaves, tracks them to a greenhouse (marijuana plants are seen) and he is shot with a tranquilizer dart and collapses; he wakes up tied to a chair and he drools. A man carries an axe into a house looking for a dog and finds it being tended to by a woman; she says that it had barbed wire in its paw. A man questions another man tied into a chair and kicks him over on his side into pig muck. A man finds his truck broken into and his belongings stolen; two dogs track the thief to a homeless camp, where the thief claims to be a veteran and argues about the items being his until the first man punches him hard in the face.
► A dog watches grainy and jumpy video footage from its body cam in battle (we see a lot of movement but no violence is shown). A man wakes up moaning and hears whistling in his ears, he stumbles to a bathroom, knocks over a lamp and collapses on the floor where he has a seizure and a dog watches and lays across him until the man sleeps. A man puts a muzzle on a dog and says, “Last time,” as another man comes with a restraining loop that is placed on the dog’s neck; the dog barks and jumps trying to get to the first man as he drives away (the dog is being taken to be euthanized, but is not). A man looks at photographs of warfare and asks another man, “Are they dead?” (we do not see the photos).
► A man throws a rock through a car window when a dog inside is barking, another man comes on the scene and the two men argue as the dog jumps out of the car and chases the first man and bites his sleeve; the second man restrains the dog and puts her back in the car. A man finds a dog scratching and biting the interior of his car and he yells for the dog to stop, and then drugs the animal. A dog in a cage scratches at the grates and cries in several scenes; during one scene the dog breaks the cage apart. A dog with a heavy muzzle on is shown locked in a cage; a man enters and pets it on the ears, and it lunges at him hitting him in the head with the muzzle and knocking him down. A man pretends to be blind and when his dog breaks loose and chases a man through a hotel lobby, jumps on his back and knocks him to the floor, he pretends that he can now see. A man’s truck breaks down and he and a dog walk along a road until they find a barn to take shelter in during a storm; the dog seems terrified of the thunder and lightning and barks and snaps at the man when he tries to get it to leave the barn. A man and a dog walk along a road until the dog lies down and won’t walk anymore; the man carries the dog over his shoulders. A dog whimpers and seems agitated when it sees a photograph of its handler and the man’s boots at his funeral; the dog goes to the boots and lies on them.
► A man is shown lying on the floor next to his bed and we hear him breathing heavily and moaning (presumably after a seizure). A man asleep in the back of his truck (with beer cans strewn around him) is pulled out by the feet by another man and he falls on the ground (he does not seem harmed).
► Two men argue about one man wanting to be deployed and the other refuses to authorize it because of his medical condition. A man is told that a friend and fellow Army Ranger is dead and we understand that he killed himself by speeding into a tree. Men talk about injuries they have sustained in military service including brain injuries and missing limbs. A man has a few encounters with MPs and he tends to be rude and confrontational; when declined entry to a military base because of an expired ID, the man asks, “What are the odds I’m ISIS?” People talk about putting a dog down since its handler died and it suffered trauma and does not seem to be able to work with anyone else. A sign on a truck reads, “Keep Oregon Weird.” A woman tells a man that he has a white savior complex, and another woman refers to his toxic masculinity. A man tells another man, “I almost put an axe to the back of your head.” A man jokes with a dog saying, “We didn’t have to kill those nice people” (they did not kill anyone). A man tells another man, “Get out of my face.” A man goes to an apartment to speak to a woman and she apparently tells him to leave, without allowing him to see his young daughter.
► Dogs lunge at and bite men wearing padded attack suits in several scenes. A man wearing a padded attack suit tries to entice a dog to jump on him; another dog jumps on him from the back. Men work out with large weights on a military base. A man takes target practice at a gun range and he stops when he hears high-pitched whistling in his ears and his vision gets blurry. A dog lunges for a man’s drinking water bottle and takes it away from him, startling the man. A man tries to coax a dog into a bathtub. A dog grabs a stuffed animal and a man pulls it away; the man later gives the stuffed animal to the dog and it chews on it.
► A dog is shown on a stretcher with bandages on leg injuries from battle in a photograph. A man is shown shirtless and we see many scars on his back and chest and several on his neck and head. A dog has chicken feathers on its mouth and face and it is implied that it killed a chicken.

Dog LANGUAGE 5

 – About 2 F-words, 3 obscene hand gestures, 1 sexual reference, 28 scatological terms, 14 anatomical terms, 27 mild obscenities, name-calling (bastard, genius idea, brutal, screw-ups, crazy, idiot, crackhead, insane, racist, moron, narcissist, you stink, bougie, dope farmers, dude, paranoid maniac, trash, weird, fathead, liability, Ray Charles, redneck, demon), exclamations (hey no, shut your mouth, my bad, I’m gonna kill…, what are you lookin’ at, oh my, shut-up), 2 religious profanities (GD), 10 religious exclamations (e.g. oh my God, Jesus, Godforsaken, God). | profanity glossary |

Dog SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man accidentally walks into a greenhouse where marijuana plants are growing, two men eat edible lollipops and act intoxicated, a man says that another man would have to take “3 percs” just to get out of bed, a reference is made to dope farmers, a man puts Benadryl in a hot dog and throws it into a car where a dog is (we later see the dog sleeping), and a man takes prescription meds in several scenes (we are told they are for his migraines). Several men drink shots and beers in a bar and one man is carried out later by two other men (he is inebriated), two women and a man drink wine in an apartment, people in a bar drink wine and beer, a man holds a bottle of champagne, a man in a bar talks about virtual beer, and a man drinks from a bottle of whiskey in a few scenes.

Dog DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Traumatic brain injury, PTSD, military service dogs, toxic masculinity, trust, ecological genocide, Valhalla, suicide, hate crimes.

Dog MESSAGE

 – Dogs make us better people.