The King’s Man | 2021 | R | – 5.7.6

Why is “The King’s Man” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “sequences of strong/bloody violence, language, and some sexual material.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes implied oral sex with partial nudity in one scene, suggestive activity between two men, references to a man liking young boys, several scenes of injuries and death on battlefields from gunshots and stabbings with bloody wounds and dismemberment shown, several fights with knives and swords leaving bloody wounds, the beheading of a man and a goat, a couple of poisonings, a ship sunk by a torpedo strike, the planning of murders and attacks to influence a war, 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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A prequel of the previous two movies (Kingsman: The Secret Service and Kingsman: The Golden Circle) explaining how the super duper and dapper British spy agency was formed in the aftermath of World War I. With Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans, Harris Dickinson, Djimon Hounsou, Shaun McKee, Peter York, Matthew Goode and Charles Dance. Directed by Matthew Vaughn. [Running Time: 2:11]

The King’s Man SEX/NUDITY 5

 – A man tells another man to take off his trousers and he does (we see his bare legs to the mid-thighs and he is wearing boxers); the first man touches a bullet wound scar on the other man’s thigh, licks it with his tongue and touches it with his finger suggestively (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A woman on a video undresses in front of a man seated in a chair (we see her underwear and bare back); the woman moves between the man’s legs and oral sex is implied. A man pushes a woman’s head into his lap (orals sex is implied). A woman kisses a man.
► A comment is made about a man having an “attraction for sweet young boys.”
► Two shirtless men spar with wooden knives and we see their bare chests, abdomens and backs (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A woman wearing a low-cut dress waves at a parade of people passing in cars (we see cleavage). Several women wear low-cut dresses at a dinner party.

The King’s Man VIOLENCE/GORE 7

 – Two men with a sword and a dagger enter a room and one man fights with another man, one man stands on a table and the other slashes at him, kicks the table over, and one man is slashed with a poisoned weapon and falls unconscious as another man shoots the attacker; a man holds a young man by the face and over his shoulder preparing to break his neck and the man is stabbed in the shoulder with a sword, slashed on the arm and stabbed through the chest, dragged to a pool and dumped in the water where he is motionless; he then gets up and it shot in the head (we see a bullet wound in his forehead). A soldier runs carrying a wounded soldier over his shoulders toward a trench while being shot at; when he reaches the trench the man he was carrying is dead and he is accused of being a spy and shot in the head (we see the bullet wound and he lies dead).
► A man is shot by a sniper in the leg (we see blood and he falls to the ground) as he leaves a compound, another man is shot in the head and blood splatters, a woman runs toward a carriage where a young boy is hiding and the woman is shot in the abdomen (blood is shown and the woman dies); a man with a large knife jumps on the shooter’s back and stabs him (we hear a crunch). A man loads his gun at an outdoor café and shoots a man in the neck and a woman next to him in the chest and we see bloody wounds as they both die. A man breaks the ice off the top of a pool and tells another man to get into the frigid water; the second man steps into the water and the first man pushes his head under holding him, seemingly to drown him. A man sails up an elevator passage on a rope and cuts the head off a man at the top (we see the severed head). Opposing soldiers lay down their guns and draw knives and hammers to fight; we see stabbing, slashing with crunching sounds and blood spurting, one soldier straddles another soldier that pleads with him and the soldier slits his throat; one soldier is shot and another opens fire on the remaining soldier as he runs and dodges the bullets.
► Soldiers in trenches fix bayonets on their rifles and charge out only to be mowed down by the enemy (every man is killed and we see blood spray as the men fall). A man shoots and stabs other men and we see bloody wounds and blood on the killer’s face. A man puts a poison in a piece of candy that he gives to a young boy; the child eats the candy, falls into a seizure foaming at the mouth and a man holds him off the floor as he makes the boy’s father agree to do something before he will revive him; the man then stands over the boy’s parents with a large cross with a point on the end seemingly to harm them as the scene ends. A man is hanged in a prison cell and another man beats the two guards in the cell and cuts the hanging man down. A man carrying a British flag runs across a field while soldiers behind him shoot at him and soldiers in front of him shoot cover fire until an explosive blows up and the man is thrown; we assume he is killed but later see him with the lower part of one leg missing and blood on the flesh. A woman with a knife lunges at a man and the man wraps a scarf around her throat and strangles her.
► Three men with swords prepare to fight, one man has a gun in the hilt of his sword and shoots at another man as the third man jumps in the way of the bullet and is struck; the two remaining men fight with swords, one man is slashed on the leg and the other throws a grenade that explodes and throws the first man (he holds a shield in front of him) back through a wall; they continue to fight and move to a cliff’s edge where one man is gored through the leg by a goat (we see blood and the horn through the leg) and he falls (we see him crash on the ground with a plume of dust). A man lifts another man off the floor and throws him, they fight, one man is stabbed in the leg (we see blood), a man throws knives at a man and we see blood where he is struck. A woman shoots several men from a distant position. A man draws a sword and stabs many people with slashing and we see blood and hear crunching. Two men fight with guns and knives. Two men are shot at in a stable.
► A submarine speeds toward a ship and fires a torpedo that hits the ship and breaks it in half; we see it sink in flames. A man with a sword cuts the head off a goat (we hear the slash and blood splatters). A man hacks the horn off a goat (we see the severed piece land on the ground). A man jumps out of a plane with a parachute and he breaks through the wing of the plane where he becomes stuck, he uses a knife to cut himself free and the he falls as the plane spins out of control; the man crashes into a rock wall and dangles from his parachute that is caught on a broken tree limb, he uses two knives, and knives in his shoes, to climb the wall, and then leans across a crevasse and shimmies up; he gets to an icy surface that breaks away under his feet and he grabs onto the horn of a goat that pulls him up to safety.
► People plan the murder of a man and we see the person assigned to make the attack preparing an explosive; he throws the bomb toward a car and a man inside the car bats it away with an umbrella knocking it under a car behind them where it explodes (we see the passengers getting out and seeming shaken without injuries shown). Two men spar using wooden knives with colorful paint on the blades and we see slashes of those colors on their arms and backs until a woman on a balcony nearby shoots a knife out of one man’s hand to get their attention. A man enters a room and seems to be floating off the floor. Soldiers take target practice with guns.
► A caravan arrives at a compound in South Africa where many people are held behind barbed wire fences and shown to be starving (we see emaciated people with skin stretched across their ribs), while bodies are placed in mass graves nearby and a man makes a snide remark about the Boers. A sex video is used to blackmail of an official. A man slams another man’s head onto a table and we see a bruise on his face later. A young man is given a gun. Four people plan the murder of a man. A compound is shown built on the top of a giant rock with sheer walls.
► A man and his son argue in several scenes about the younger man wanting to enlist in the army. A man is shown with a birth defect that caused a malformed hand and people mock him about it. A man says, “If God had wanted men to fly, he’d have given us wings,” when he refuses to get in a plane. A woman says, “The more you fear something, the more likely it is to come true.” A man says, “Our ancestors were terrible people.” A man says, “There are no rules in war.” A young man insists on the honor of dying for one’s country. Large swaths of land are shown with burned trees and ground. A young man holds up a white feather that he says he was given and we are told that it signifies the young man being a coward for not enlisting in the military. People talk about having sunk an American passenger ship. A man talks about wanting to make England starve to death. A man says, “England is doomed.” A man says, “We’re going to war.”
► A man eats a piece of poisoned cake ravenously and we see crumbs in his beard; he then projectile vomits and we see goo. A man spits and we hear the splatter but do not see it. A man complains of seasickness and goes to the deck of a ship where he leans over the railing. Rats are shown nibbling on the remains of dead soldiers in and on the ground.

The King’s Man LANGUAGE 6

 – About 17 F-words, 3 sexual references, 4 scatological terms, 5 mild obscenities, name-calling (terrible, ruthless, rogues, sitting ducks, moronic, sniggering, coward, failure, despicable, bastard, grubby, posh prick, traitor, thorn in my side, scoundrel, self-pitying, poppycock, surreal, stupid, boring), exclamations (oh come on, good day, how dare you, shut-up, bloody), 5 religious exclamations (e.g. may God forgive me, thank God, oh God, Jesus Christ). | profanity glossary |

The King’s Man SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man takes a drop of something from an eye dropper (could be opium), a man puts a poison in a piece of candy that a child eats (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details), and there’s a reference to opium. A man opens a bottle of champagne with a pop, a man drinks a scotch, several men and women drink with a toast, and people drink wine and champagne at a party. Two men smoke cigarettes, soldiers smoke in trenches, and a human skull is perched in a trench with several cigarettes in its teeth.

The King’s Man DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – War, World War I, Icarus, secrets, pacifism, breaking a vow, promises, Arch Duke Ferdinand, Adolf Hitler, Romanov, abdication, heroism, peace, code cracking, trust, honesty, respect, politics, service, reputation, revolution, retribution, duty, dying for your country.

The King’s Man MESSAGE

 – World War I was pointless and irrational. Supervillains control events and super-secret spies are needed to defend the world.