I.S.S. | 2023 | R | – 1.5.5

Why is “I.S.S.” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “some violence and language.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a passionate kiss, tense moments on a space station when the astronauts suspect each other of nefarious acts, scenes of explosions on the Earth’s surface, several fight scenes that lead to death and bloody injuries, several arguments, and about 6 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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When nuclear war breaks out between the US and Russia, tension rises between the astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station, especially after both groups receive identical orders from their governments: Take over, by any means necessary. With Ariana DeBose, Chris Messina, John Gallagher Jr., Masha Mashkova, Costa Ronin and Pilou Asbæk. Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. Several lines of dialogue are spoken in Russian with English subtitles. [Running Time: 1:35]

I.S.S. SEX/NUDITY 1

 – A man and a woman kiss passionately.
► A man talks about the beginning of a romantic relationship with a woman. A woman talks about her partner cheating on her.

I.S.S. VIOLENCE/GORE 5

 – A man grabs another man and they fight, a woman attacks the man and she is thrown, another man enters the room and two men are closed in a compartment where they fight with throws, punches, head-butts, and one man is stabbed in the abdomen with a drill that spins (we see blood coming from the wound) and the other man is stabbed in the neck with a screwdriver (blood exits the wound in bubbles that float through the air); both men are dead and we see them wrapped in body bags later. A man and a woman reach for a sharp knife at the same time; the man stabs the knife through another man’s hand (we see the hand with the knife through it and blood is visible), and the woman wraps a tether around one man’s throat and strangles him to death. A woman opens an oxygen valve while holding a torch gun, threatening to explode a space station, and when two men approach her she swings a large wrench at them as they yell at each other, until another man hits the woman in the head with a metal tank and she falls motionless with blood on her head; we see her later dead, with blood matted in her hair.
► Communication is lost with an astronaut outside the space station and a mechanical arm hits him, leaving him free floating in space (we see him floating past the windows a couple of times); another astronaut says that she has to go out to find him while others says that he is surely dead. People in a space station see numerous flashes and explosions on the Earth’s surface and we hear that the computers and communication systems are down. Astronauts ride in a rocket and are shaken when leaving Earth’s atmosphere before moving into zero gravity. A mechanical arm swings toward an astronaut outside the space station and he clings onto it to get back inside.
► A man describes feeling a woman’s skull cave in when he struck her. We hear that an air ventilation and filtration system has stopped working. A man describes that one should panic when they don’t hear a hum because that means the life support system has failed. We hear about a man’s research into contagious cancers. We read about the International Space Station being mainly a collaboration between Russia and the United States for purposes of scientific research. People say that they do not talk politics while on the space station. People discuss seeing Earth from the space station being spiritual. We read a message that indicates that war has broken out on Earth. A man complains of a headache and blames too much CO2. A woman discusses studying organ replacement after her father died while on a waiting list. A woman says that she will have to euthanize some mice when she finds them with bloody wounds and missing limbs.
► A man uses equipment that sprays flames in a space station lab. An astronaut prepares to go outside the space station to repair a broken antenna. A woman puts several mice into a cage and they float around in zero gravity as a man tells the woman that it will not end well.

I.S.S. LANGUAGE 5

 – About 6 F-words and its derivatives, 4 scatological terms, 3 anatomical terms, 6 mild obscenities, name-calling (weird, stupid, robot, suicide, death wish, ridiculous, idiot, dogs, monster), exclamations (get lost, stop), 7 religious exclamations (e.g. mother of God, oh my God, oh God, Jesus). | profanity glossary |

I.S.S. SUBSTANCE USE

 – A woman opens a bottle of liquor in zero gravity and bubbles float into the air as others slurp them up, and a man drinks vodka from a bottle through a straw.

I.S.S. DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – The International Space Station, Russian/U.S. relations, suspicion, trust, duty, secrets, infidelity, honesty.

I.S.S. MESSAGE

 – When nationalistic imperatives are not tempered, even when away from Earth, the result can be deadly.