The Front Room | 2024 | R | – 6.5.6

Why is “The Front Room” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “language, some violent/disturbing content, brief sexuality and nudity.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a sex scene, non-sexual nudity, a woman being smothered, a body in a crematory in flames, a facial injury from a fall against a table, a child with bite marks on her arm, people speaking in tongues, many scenes of an incontinent woman having accidents with feces and urine shown, discussions of children dying, many arguments and yelling, and about 14 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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A man and a woman (Brandy Norwood and Andrew Burnap) prepare for the birth of their child when the man hears that his father is dying and feels he must confront his stepmother (Kathryn Hunter) about their tumultuous past. When the elderly woman insinuates herself into their lives, all manner of unpleasantness begins. Also with Neal Huff. Directed by Max & Sam Eggers. [Running Time: 1:34]

The Front Room SEX/NUDITY 6

 – A husband and his wife have sex and we see her thrusting while straddling him and hear them moaning softly.
► A woman holds an infant and the pose resembles one of Mary holding Jesus with a bright light overhead; she opens her dress and reveals numerous breasts and nipples with milk flowing and the child nurses. We hear a man calling for “mommy” and a woman finds her husband (he is shirtless and we see his bare chest, abdomen and back) suckling from his mother’s breast (we see her bare breast and his mouth stained with milk). A woman tries to nurse her newborn several times and cries when she has trouble latching on.
► A nude woman sits in a bathtub and her shoulders and partial bare breasts are seen. A woman’s bare pregnant abdomen is seen several times. A man wears boxers and we see his bare chest, abdomen, back and legs to the thighs.

The Front Room VIOLENCE/GORE 5

 – A pillow is held over a woman’s face and she struggles before falling still. An infant is shown with bloodied bite marks on her arm and a man confronts his wife about hurting the child. A woman raises her fist to another woman but does not strike her; the second woman throws herself on the floor hitting her face on a table and we see her with blood in her mouth and she is missing a tooth. A woman lies motionless in bed with her eyes open and we understand that she is dead; we see skeletal remains in a crematory engulfed in flames.
► A pregnant woman moans and falls to her knees; we then see her in a hospital where her abdomen is opened with a scalpel and the silhouette of an infant and the umbilical cord are seen (we see a scar and a stained bandage later). A woman lies on a floor motionless and another woman fears that she is dead; she touches her back and the woman revives.
► People in a prayer group speak in tongues and their tongues flap around as they touch a woman’s bare abdomen; she yells and tells them to stop and leave her house. A woman pounds on a table, picks up her food with her hands and behaves like a child when another woman won’t eat the food that she prepared. A woman hears thumping and scratching that sounds like a woman walking with her canes after the woman died.
► A woman imagines piling possessions into a chair and speeding her car over them. A woman talks about having had a daughter (implying that a child died) and speaks with a child’s voice suggesting that another woman’s deceased son is speaking through her. A woman falls on the floor and calls for another woman to help her; the first woman flatulates loudly when trying to stand up. A woman pours a pitcher of water over another woman’s head and she coughs and sputters when trying to swallow some of the water.
► A woman wears a heavy black veil over her head and uses two canes to walk. A woman uses two canes to walk and drags one foot. A woman walks through a house and we hear a baby crying (there is no baby) and she tells her husband she must have been sleepwalking. A woman hears muffled crying and walks toward a bathtub that resembles a womb with a fetus in it. An infant cries in her crib and will not be soothed when her mother picks her up; the woman holds a necklace with a religious symbol on it over the crib and the child stops crying. A woman has an ultrasound and we see the screen with a fetus and hear the heartbeat. We understand that a baby died.
► A woman helps another woman to a chair and the second woman proclaims, “M.E.S.S. mess” (suggesting that she has soiled herself). A woman repeats, “Why can’t I die” several times. A woman speaks in tongues in several scenes. A woman angrily quits her job when she is mistreated by her boss. A woman describes people being raped and enslaved and argues with another woman about racism. A man and a woman argue about his career and her needing help as a pregnant person as well as a new mother. A woman tells her husband that their credit card was declined and that she was so embarrassed. A woman says that a relative was a leader in the Ku Klux Klan. A woman asks her adult stepson, “Do I deserve any tenderness?” A man says that his stepmother wouldn’t let him eat until she believed him when he sang, “Jesus Loves Me.” A woman asks, “Am I supposed to be a mom?” A woman says, “Everything is a mess.” A man says that a woman “laid hands on me” to help him quit smoking. We hear that a man died and we see mourners at his funeral. A woman finds a certificate from the “Daughters of the Confederacy” with her stepmother-in-law’s name on it. A woman says, “I’m going to throw up,” but she does not. A man complains of his tie being stained with urine.
► A woman coughs at a dinner table and a man asks if anyone smells anything; we are told that the woman is incontinent and she becomes angry and slams her hand on the table. A woman calls for help and another woman finds her in her room with urine and feces-soaked bedclothes; the woman and a man enter the room reacting to the odor. Numerous scenes show a man and a woman helping another woman to the bathroom and most times the woman is stained with urine and feces and her adult diaper appears filled (we see urine and feces being flushed in the toilet numerous times). A woman calls for help after soiling herself and we see feces smeared on walls and doorframes; another woman’s shirt is shown stained with feces after she cleans her. When a pillow is lifted up next to a woman seated on a sofa, we see a puddle of what we understand is urine and the woman seems embarrassed. A woman coughs deeply and spits out green goo onto a handkerchief. A woman coughs and spits goo (we see it) into a man’s face.

The Front Room LANGUAGE 6

 – About 14 F-words, 5 scatological terms, 1 anatomical term, 2 mild obscenities, name-calling (crippled, ain’t no mother, crazy, overwhelmed, weird, uppity Yankee, secularist, fallen world), exclamations (wow, oh please, goo-goo-ga-ga), 2 religious profanities (GD), 25 religious exclamations (e.g. oh my God, Jesus, Amen, ungodly, oh Lord, thank God, Holy Spirit, Holy [scatological term deleted], Lucifer, a woman talks about this being a Christian country, a prayer is recited before a meal, in Jesus’ name Amen). | profanity glossary |

The Front Room SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man holds a glass of liquor (we do not see him drink), glasses of wine are shown on a dining table in a few scenes, and glasses of beer and wine are seen on a dining table.

The Front Room DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Anthropology, racism, family, step-parenting, religion, estranged families, fear, regret, the cry it out method, anguish, heritage, Ku Klux Klan, persecution, honesty, Public Defenders, proof, good deeds, menopause, death of a child.

The Front Room MESSAGE

 – Family can be a nightmare.