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Manou the Swift | 2019 | NR | – 1.3.1

content-ratingsWhy is “Manou the Swift” rated NR? The MPAA has not rated this film. The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a couple of bird kisses and discussions of nesting; a few scenes of rats attacking the nests of birds and stealing their eggs with some fighting and one bloody injury shown, a flock of birds is trapped in a heavy storm, talk of birds dying in a heavy storm, and a bird is banished from his family and community and goes off on his own; and some name-calling and mild language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.”


After being orphaned and taken in by a seagull couple (voiced by Kate Winslet & Willem Dafoe), a swift hatchling (voiced by Josh Keaton) tries to fit in with the other seagulls but can’t really figure out why he is so different; that is, until he meets some other swifts that teach him their ways and together they realize that they are not so different after all. Directed by Andrea Block & Christian Haas. [Running Time: 1:28]

Manou the Swift SEX/NUDITY 1

 – Two birds kiss in silhouette (touching beaks together). Two birds rub their beaks together and kiss (we hear a smooch). A male bird follows a female bird into a cave (her grotto) and we hear her giggling, we then hear a slap and the male bird tumbles out of the cave opening as we hear the girl bird say, “I’m not that kind of bird.” A male and a female bird share their feelings for each other. Two birds snuggle together in a couple of scenes.
 A female bird sings a love song in a club setting. A female bird looks in her empty nest and hopes for eggs and hatchlings.
 A nude statue is scene in the background of a scene (there are no anatomic detail).

Manou the Swift VIOLENCE/GORE 3

 – Rats in silhouette attack two birds and try to steal eggs from their nest (we understand that the birds were killed and that one egg was left alone to hatch and try to survive). Rats prowl near a nest with two eggs in it and a bird stands guard; the bird flaps its wings and pecks at the rats, it is pinned by two rats and another bird comes to help fight them off as a rat gets away with one egg. Rats steal eggs from a nest and a bird calls for help to recover them. Birds fly through a café and town where one bird knocks over cups on a table and gets caught in a laundry line; several rats surround him, pin him to the ground and bite him until others fight them off by throwing bars of soap and swinging a laundry line with a bit of cement on the end (we see blood on the bird’s wing).
 A flock of birds flies through a heavy storm and they are pelted with rain as lightning flashes around them; they land on the water and are tossed around on large waves until they fly toward the eye of the storm and up through the top of the eye where they are safe from the storm. Several birds fight with rats while trying to recover eggs the rats have stolen and one rat is struck in the head by a bottle, one rat is slammed by a drain grate, and two rats are kicked; barrels of wine are uncorked and the wine floods an area where rats swarm out from a drain as it fills with the wine, and birds place a net under recovered eggs and fly away. Two birds are trapped in a storm and others help get them out safely.
 A dead and plucked bird lies on a block and a man draws a butcher knife into the air over it (the scene cuts away). A bird falls on a grill where fish are being cooked and a man with a butcher knife raises the blade over the bird and brings it down just as the bird jumps out of the way. Birds are shown in cages being carted through a market and the carts pass other birds on skewers being cooked on rotisseries.
 Many birds gather around another bird and demand that he is thrown out of the flock for not saving an egg from attacking rats; the bird is eventually told to leave and he flies away alone as his adoptive mother cries and pleads with his adoptive father. A bird yells at a young bird when he is not paying attention to his instructions about navigating by the stars. Bird parents argue over their adopted son trying to prove himself. Several adolescent gulls mock a swift; they make faces at him, kick him and call him names in several scenes. A bird describes flying through a heavy storm that blew sands from the desert and that “everyone lost someone.” A bird says, “I would have been toast.”
 Several birds fly through trees and structures during a race: a few crash into branches, one bird lands on a prickly pear briefly, one crashes into a stone bridge (no injuries are seen). Several birds slide along a cable and fly through a village stealing food from tables in cafés; one bird nearly crashes into a moped and one bird chases another bird into a bell tower. A bird spins another bird around while holding him by the top of the head and when he stops the spun bird collapses. A hatchling squawks and flaps its wings when birds try to put it in a nest in a cave.
 A bird dives into the ocean and pulls a fish out by the tail; the bird tries to carry the fish while flying and but falls back into the water when he cannot glide and the fish lands on the bird’s head (he’s unharmed). A bird tries to fly with a flock of other birds and he crashes into them several times before learning how to fly close to them. Several young birds learn to fly by jumping off a high wall by gliding on the wind; one bird is unable to glide and flaps his wings furiously before crashing into a puddle of water below (he’s unharmed). Several young birds learn to swim and one young bird is unable to float; he flaps, sinks under the water and coughs when he reaches the bank. Two young birds try to fly and one slips off a rock nearly falling into the ocean below. A hatchling climbs up a rock and tumbles into a nest where a female bird wraps her wing around him. A hatchling faints when it sees a rat nearby. Several birds on a beach run toward the water then run away when waves come toward them. A bird walks alone through a cemetery and takes cover when it starts to rain.
 A young bird slurps up an oyster and spits it out. Several birds stand around and pick bugs off each other. A hatchling slurps up an oyster and spits it out (we see goo) and is fed many types of fish and crustaceans. A hatchling snaps bugs out of the air and eats them. A bird taps an open oyster with a stick and it wiggles. A hatchling snaps a bug out of the air and spits it out. We see a ball of wriggling worms being prepared for a bird to eat.

Manou the Swift LANGUAGE 1

 – 1 mild scatological term, 1 mild anatomical term, name-calling (fleabags, garbage trawler, smelly, rats, ugly looking, crazy, stupid, loser, yellow legs, stuck-up, foul attitude, no clue, immature guano poopers, outcast, insane, lazy feather boa), exclamations (“life’s a beach” is painted on a broken sign, no touchy, are you crazy). | profanity glossary |

Manou the Swift SUBSTANCE USE

 – Several barrels of wine are uncorked and the wine floods an area where rats swarm out from a drain as it fills with the wine.

Manou the Swift DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Racism, family, teamwork, skill sets, abandonment, life, bird life, moving on, rules, fitting in, bullying, being different, competition, skill, luck, imprinting, commonality, winning, modes of flight (swarm intelligence vs. formation).

Manou the Swift MESSAGE

 – Accepting other’s differences builds a stronger community.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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