Kandahar | 2023 | R | – 3.6.6

Why is “Kandahar” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “violence and language.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes, an implied sex scene with some partial nudity, many scenes of factions of heavily armed people fighting with many gunshots exchanged and explosives launched leaving many dead or wounded, a scene of a large weapons manufacturing site being destroyed by a giant explosion, a few arguments, discussions of the death and the disappearance of loved ones, and nearly 20 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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After it is discovered that a CIA Black Ops mission led to the destruction of a weapons manufacturing plant, two men (Gerard Butler and Navid Negahban) evade Afghan commandos to get back home. Also with Ali Fazal, Bahador Foladi, Olivia-Mai Barrett, Nina Toussaint-White, Rebecca Calder, Ross Berkeley Simpson, Vassilis Koukalani, Hakeem Jomah, Tom Rhys Harries and Ray Haratian. Directed by Ric Roman Waugh. Unidentified languages are spoken in several scenes with English subtitles and translation. [Running Time: 2:00]

Kandahar SEX/NUDITY 3

 – A man and a woman lie in a bed (presumably nude; we see her bare back and part of the side of her breast and his bare chest and abdomen) and sex is implied.
► A man uses a dating app on his phone while in a meeting. A man asks his estranged wife if she is seeing someone when she asks him to sign divorce papers.
► Women wear low-cut and short dresses that reveal cleavage and bare legs to the upper thighs at a party.

Kandahar VIOLENCE/GORE 6

 – Armed men go to a safe house and break the door open, and then shoot a man inside (we see blood on his chest and pooling on the floor). A truck speeds along a desert road at night without headlights and the driver uses night vision goggles to see the road; a helicopter flies overhead and opens fire on them, the driver shoots back and several bullets hit each vehicle and the two men in the truck get out; one man runs into a rock formation to take cover, two men from the helicopter are dropped off and search for the men from the truck and both of them are shot, the helicopter returns, the man on the ground throws an explosive as the helicopter passes over it and it is engulfed in flames as the man shoots at it and it spins out and crashes in flames. Many trucks with armed men on board speed toward a desert compound and shoot bullets and explosives at the people inside; many are struck, we see blood spurt and bodies fall and a couple of men are shown engulfed in flames from explosions; the gate to the compound is blown open and a vehicle flips over and explodes. Two men are rescued after having been held captive and beaten: they speed away in a truck, another man shoots at a truck chasing them, and he is shot (we see a lot of blood pour from an abdominal wound); he drops on the ground from the speeding truck and takes aim at the chasing truck before being shot dead.
► A truck is blown up and flips over with two men inside; we see that they have bloody wounds and one man with a gun gets out and shoots a man speeding toward him on a motorcycle; after they shoot at each other one man falls to the ground with a very bloody wound on his neck. A body is shown on a street after an explosion and we see a bloody arm sticking out from a body bag. Four bodies are shown slumped against a wall and we see evidence of them having been shot (bloody wounds and blood on the wall behind them). Two men are shown hanged from a crane along a road. A crashed helicopter is shown and we see what could be human remains with some blood and matter visible. A man searches for two other men in a desert, they are found and we see them tied to a wall and with bloody wounds on their heads and faces from being beaten.
► Many trucks with armed men in them speed toward two men in a truck in the desert; one man is concerned and says that they are flying flags of a Militia Warlord and the two men are taken to a camp where they see guns being unloaded from a truck. Many bombs and rockets are launched from a plane and blow up trucks and armed vehicles on the ground. Armed men break the door of a woman’s hotel room open, they grab her, tie her and cover her head with a sack before wrapping her in a blanket, taking her phone and laptop and taking her away in a truck (she screams and struggles, and a man on the other end of a phone call hears the attack; we later see the woman in a cell).
► We watch as a facility fills with a gas that causes computers and machinery to explode; the ground heaves, we see a large cloud of smoke (presumably people inside were all killed) and the shockwave blows trees and objects through the air in the surrounding area. A truck and a motorcycle speed through streets and a car flips and explodes. A man in a van shoots at a man in another vehicle. Two men in a truck stop on a road when their tire goes flat; one man gets out and vomits and gags a few times (we do not see goo) and the other man tells him it’s from the adrenaline.
► Armed men stand around a man when he becomes confrontational and calls another man a traitor; he blames the man for the death of his son and the man offers him a loaded gun to use on him to exact his revenge (he empties the gun and does not shoot). Armed men stand around outside an underground cable conduit area while a man attaches a device to one of the cables; the men yell when he comes to the surface telling him to show them what he did and he tells them he was fixing their internet connectivity. Armed men beat two young men using their weapons and we see them fall to the ground. A young boy stands in the brush holding a switch and a man shoots at him; the boy runs away and we see that the switch detonates an explosive buried in the road where the man would have driven. Two injured men board a transport plane and they take off.
► A man tells a woman that she will be going home a martyr and she screams and cries. A woman grieves over her dead husband and we see wounds on his head and face. Members of the Taliban meet to discuss actions to be taken after an explosion and the destruction of a weapon’s facility. A man accuses another man of going back to their ways of chopping heads off. People discuss orders to publicly execute the people responsible for the destruction of a weapons’ manufacturing facility. A man offers another man money to destroy a regime’s nuclear program. We hear reports about the assassination of nuclear scientists. A man and a woman argue over the phone. A man is told as he enters Afghanistan that he is required to practice Sharia Law and is not permitted to take any photographs. A man congratulates another man for “Slaying the American dragon.” We hear that teachers have disappeared. A woman says, “We lost our freedom. We can’t do it again.” A man grieves over a stone that marks his son’s grave. A man says that he wants to sell another man “On the open market.” A man is told to avoid civilian casualties. A man talks about having done six tours. A man talks about his translator having been hanged for helping the Americans. A man tells another man that he has no place that he belongs to. A man yells at another man for empowering a warlord. As a man dies, he says, “There is no God but Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” Men are shown praying in several scenes; one man complains of pain in his knees when he kneels on the ground and another man gives him his jacket to use under his knees.
► A man is shown with a scar on his face. A man is seen with what appears to be an injured or missing hand. A man burns papers and plans after a top-secret operation.

Kandahar LANGUAGE 6

 – About 19 F-words and its derivatives, 1 obscene hand gesture, 5 scatological terms, 1 anatomical term, 2 mild obscenities, name-calling (phantom dad, crazy, traitors, cesspool, idiot, rotting corpse, snatch and grab), exclamations (shame on you), 10 religious exclamations (e.g. my God, a gift from God, oh my God, God, Jesus, thank God, are you ready to fight for Allah, God’s plan, there is no God except Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah). | profanity glossary |

Kandahar SUBSTANCE USE

 – People drink liquor and smoke cigarettes at a party, two men drink from bottles of beer, and a couple of bottles of whiskey are seen on a desk. A man sits next to a hookah pipe but does not smoke, a man smokes a vape, and a man smokes a cigar.

Kandahar DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – CIA, MI6, Black Ops, hypocrisy, divorce, translators, family, loneliness, duty, ideology, drought relief, Sharia Law, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, U.A.E, Islamic Revolutionary Corps., waring militias, revenge, Caliphate, ISIS, I.S.I., sabotage, Dari, Pashto.

Kandahar MESSAGE

 – It is hard to believe that there will ever be peace in some places in the world.