Maria | 2024 | R | – 3.3.6

Why is “Maria” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “language including a sexual reference.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes implications of two young women being sold for sex by their mother, a man trying to seduce a married woman, discussions of relationships and marriage, a woman collapsing to her death, discussions of illness, a woman burning theatrical costumes, a woman imagining people that aren’t there, a woman taking drugs in many scenes, and at least 10 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Set in 1977, the film follows the last days of Maria Callas (Angelina Jolie), the famous American-Greek soprano, after abandoning her glitzy but turbulent life. No longer performing, she agonizes and medicates herself in her Parisian apartment attended only by two loyal servants (Pierfrancesco Favino and Alba Rohrwacher), her only friends and confidants. Also with Haluk Bilginer, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Stephen Ashfield, Valeria Golino, Caspar Phillipson, Lydia Koniordou, Vincent Macaigne and Aggelina Papadopoulou. Directed by Pablo Larraín. Several lines of dialogue are spoken in Greek with English subtitles. [Running Time: 2:04]

Maria SEX/NUDITY 3

 – A young woman begins to remove her dress while a man sits in a room with her and tells her “No, just sing,” and she does. Two young women sing for two Nazi officers and their mother collects money from the men; one man asks, “What else can they do?” and we understand that they are forced to have sex with the men.
► A man flirts with a married woman trying to seduce her; her husband is also present and seems upset about how forward the man is. Remarks are made about John F. Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe having had a sexual relationship. A man comments about another man’s wife making a crude sound. A man asks a woman about a man getting her pregnant but not allowing her to have the child; she implies that she had a miscarriage.
► Women wear low-cut dresses and gowns in many scenes throughout the movie.

Maria VIOLENCE/GORE 3

 – Two young women sing for two Nazi officers and their mother collects money from the men; one man asks, “What else can they do?” and we understand that they are forced to have sex with the men.
► A woman sings and coughs, falls to her knees breathing heavily and we then we understand that she died. The film opens with a body covered by a sheet as people stand around the room and medical personnel enter carrying a stretcher.
► A reporter harasses a woman, the woman lunges toward him and a man shoves the reporter away causing him to stumble. A woman is upset when her butler asks a doctor to visit her and the doctor reports news of her liver and her heart being weak; he tells her, “Your voice is in heaven,” and she sends him away. A woman grabs another woman’s arm to see if she is real and the second woman complains that she is hurting her.
► A woman pours gasoline on costumes that she piles in a fire pit and sets on fire. A woman searches through her coat pockets and purses trying to find pills that she had hidden in them; she calls for a woman asking her what she did with the pills. A woman on a stage during a performance holds a dagger covered with blood and her hand is bloody with stage blood.
► A man in a bar plays a recording of a woman singing an opera, the woman tells him to turn it off, and she becomes upset. A woman speaks to someone that is not there while in a bar and the bartender seems concerned. A woman imagines people interacting with her; she speaks to a reporter that isn’t there, groups of people sing with her or play musical instruments around her (no one is actually there).
► People talk about a woman suffering from Diva imagined sickness and missing performances. A woman says that a man came into her room while she was sleeping and that she told him, “I know you are dead,” and he left. A woman asks a man, “How is your spine,” and he replies, “As fragile as a twig.” A woman orders her staff to do unnecessary things in several scenes; like moving a piano in and out of a room. A woman says that she has no life away from the stage. A woman says that music is born of distress and poverty. A woman cries and says, “The German soldiers won’t leave men alone.”
► A man lies in a medical room with oxygen at his nose and we understand that he died shortly after that. Dogs whimper when a woman sings a high note. Dogs whimper and pace when a woman lies dead on the floor.

Maria LANGUAGE 6

 – About 10 F-words, 3 mild obscenities, name-calling (brute, ugly but rich, fat, unlovable, terrible), 2 religious exclamations (e.g. my God, oh God). | profanity glossary |

Maria SUBSTANCE USE

 – A woman takes numerous prescription medications in a few scenes (one is Mandrax), and a woman sends another woman drugs through the mail. People drink champagne on a yacht in a few scenes, people drink an alcoholic beverage in several scenes, a woman drinks and smokes in a bar, and a woman tells a man not to drink too much. A woman smokes cigarettes in several scenes, a man smokes cigars in a few scenes, and an ashtray is seen with two cigarette butts in it.

Maria DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Success, losing one’s ability, fear of failure, sanity, revelations, betrayal, love, heartbreak, tragedy, blame, guilt, fault, regret, truth, insanity, identity, the past, the future, business strategy, Hermes, ambition, control, John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Jaqueline Kennedy.

Maria MESSAGE

 – Maria Callas was an extremely talented singer but led a very sad life.