The Happy Prince | 2018 | R | – 7.4.6

Why is “The Happy Prince” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “sexual content, graphic nudity, language and brief drug use.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes implied sexual activity and discussions, male nudity that includes the genital area in profile, a painful surgical procedure, some fights, drug, alcohol and tobacco use, and more than 10 F-words. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.”

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The story of the end of the life of Oscar Wilde (Rupert Everett), who after serving 2 years in prison for indecency struggled to find a place where he could live out his final days. Also with Colin Firth, Emily Watson, Colin Morgan and Edwin Thomas. Directed by Everett. Several lines of dialogue are spoken in French and Italian with English subtitles. [Running Time: 1:45]

The Happy Prince SEX/NUDITY 7

 – A nude man stands in profile (we see his partial back, partial chest, side and buttock as well as genitals in profile) in a room with a clothed man and another man lying on a bed is partially covered with sheets; the clothed man tells the nude man to go have sex with the man in the bed and it is implied that they do have sex (we see them sleeping in the bed together later). A clothed man lies on a bed and a young man stands across the room nude (we see his chest, abdomen and upper buttocks), they kiss and it is implied that they had sex.
► A man sits on another man’s lap and they kiss in a bar. We hear rhythmic noises coming from an upstairs room and a woman moans, implying sexual activity. Two men stand in a room where one man takes off his shirt and the other watches (we see his chest and abdomen) and the shirtless man turns off the lights (sex is implied). A man touches another man’s hand tenderly. A man and a young man hug on a train platform, then sit on a bench and hug and talk. A man in a restaurant looks at and talks to a server in a flirtatious manner. A man caresses another man’s arm.
► A man says to another man, “Let’s run away someplace no one can find us.” A man sings a song about his lover and refers to, “the boy I love.” A man talks of reconciling with his wife. A man kisses a portrait of his wife. A man talks about having met another man in a public lavatory. A man talks about a priest being particularly attractive in his martyr’s garb.
► Several men play strip musical chairs and when one man is left standing he removes his pants (we see his bare back, buttocks and legs); several other men are shown nude as they move around the chairs (we see bare chests, abdomens, buttocks, legs and possibly a glimpse of genitals). A nude man (we see his bare back, side, buttocks and legs) steps into a bath in prison and he is pushed under water by a guard. A photo of a woman hangs on a wall and it is unclear if she is fully nude (we see her abdomen and legs, and her breasts and genitals are obscured by being heavily shadowed or covered). A woman wears a low-cut evening gown that reveals cleavage. A statue of Jesus in crucifixion is shown and the figure is nude apart from a cloth draped across his lower section (we see chest, abdomen and legs). Two men undress a man to his under garments and put him in bed.

The Happy Prince VIOLENCE/GORE 4

 - A man talks to another man in an insulting manner and makes reference to "vomit and filth," before another man head-butts him and punches him on the floor a few times (they are separated and we do not see injuries). A man punches another man in the face at a funeral and storms away (no injuries are visible). A man in a café confronts another man and mocks him, calling him names and ordering him to be ejected; the man leaves the café and is followed by the insulting man and his friends who continue to taunt him, they grab sticks and follow him through narrow roads and into a church where the insulted man tackles the insulting man and holds one of his friends by his lapels while shouting at them (they all leave). A man breaks a wine bottle and holds the sharp point to another man's throat before a third man intervenes (the man with the bottle spits on the man he was threatening before he leaves the room). Many people surround a man in prison garb accompanied by an officer and yell at him, they call him names, mock him and spit on him (we see saliva leaving their mouths and covering his face). A man moans and yells as a doctor performs a crude procedure on his ear (we see the very bloody ear) and the man is given chloroform to sedate him.
► A woman enters a room where many men are gathered (in various stages of undress) and slaps her son in the face accusing him of being unfaithful to his wife with prostitutes; when she finds no women, she apologizes to her son and the other men and leaves. A man chases and yells at his wife, and then threatens a man she was speaking to in a dark alley by stating, "If you talk to my wife again, I'll kill you." A man warns a young man of another man and says, "He'll eat you." A wife says of her estranged husband, "He's killed me," and, "He destroyed himself and everyone around him." We hear that a woman died and her husband cries when he receives a telegram about it. A man talks about his wife refusing to allow him to see their two sons. A man says, "I'm paralyzed by dark thoughts." A man tells a story about a boy whose brother would beat him if he brought no money home. A doctor refers to an abscess that may require surgery. There are several arguments among men, usually about money and whether a man is going to write anymore. We hear that a man has been exiled. A man says while in prison, "I met Christ." Men at a table in a restaurant chant for one of the men to speak; he stands and makes remarks as they cheer. A man says, "I am my own Judas." A priest asks if an exorcism is required when he is asked to accept a man's absolution. We read that Wilde and many other men accused and convicted of homosexuality were pardoned in 2017.
► A man falls off a table that he is standing on in a bar and hits his head on the floor (we see blood on his head and it is later seen bandaged). A woman walks using two braces and makes a reference to back pain. A young man screams and stands on a chair as a rat runs through the room; the rat is killed by several people with brooms and held by the tail as the young man continues to scream.
► We see images of children homeless and starving on dark streets while wealthy individuals toast with champagne elsewhere in the city. A young boy cries after his matchsticks were stolen while he was trying to sell them on the street. A man has a nightmare with an erupting volcano in the distance. A man is unable to leave a café because he cannot pay his bill after drinking and eating there all day; he is shown sitting at a table in the rain until a friend passes by and covers the tab. Several men carry a coffin and we see it being lowered into the ground while mourners gather at the grave.
► A man seems to hear ringing in his ears and one of his ears bleeds (we understand that he has a "longstanding ear disease"). After a man's ear bleeds onto his hand he smears the blood on a mirror as he looks into it. A man's head is shaved in prison, he steps into a bath and is pushed under water by a guard. A man talks about having diarrhea in prison. We see many human skulls stacked in a catacomb or crypt.

The Happy Prince LANGUAGE 6

 - About 12 F-words, 2 sexual references, 6 scatological terms, 3 anatomical terms, 5 mild obscenities, name-calling (dwarf, fairy, presiding elf, drunken groper, masochist, sinners, disgruntled house maid, sanctimonious, ridiculous, ruined man, pig, sick, coward, selfish, troll, madam, bore, hypocrite, lepers, liar, silly old fairy), exclamations (shut-up, I don't give a fig), 16 religious exclamations (e.g. Jesus, Oh God, For Christ's Sake, Christ, Thank Christ, Oh Jesus Christ, For God's Sake). | profanity glossary |

The Happy Prince SUBSTANCE USE

 - A man gives a young man a small box that he refers to as cocaine, a young man sprinkles cocaine on cotton and puts a piece in a man's mouth and another piece in his own mouth, a doctor prepares a hypodermic of morphine and injects a man in the arm, and a cloth soaked with chloroform is placed over a man's mouth and nose during a surgical procedure (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). Men and women are shown toasting with and drinking champagne, a man talks about drinking absinthe in several scenes, a man orders absinthe in a bar and we see other patrons drinking alcohol and beer, a man says he needs a drink in several scenes, men at a bar drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes and cigars, a man is shown drinking and smoking at a café for an entire day, and people drink champagne and wine with meals in several scenes. Men smoke cigarettes and cigars in many scenes in clubs, bars, hotel rooms, on-stage in a theater, two men smoke on a veranda, and two men smoke cigarettes and one a cigar in a hotel room.

The Happy Prince DISCUSSION TOPICS

 - Oscar Wilde, homosexuality and the "Indecency" laws of the 19th century, libel, classism, vice, pleasure, love, intimacy, jealousy, tragedy, syphilis, fraud, poverty, family, being cut off from funds, relationships.

The Happy Prince MESSAGE

 - Be yourself; everyone else is already taken. Love is everything.