Movie Ratings That Actually Work    Become a Member

"One of the 50 Coolest Websites...they simply tell it like it is" - TIME

Melancholia | 2011 | R | - 7.4.5

As a recently discovered planet threatens to collide with Earth and destroy all life, two sisters (Charlotte Gainsbourg and Kirsten Dunst) find their strained relationship even more difficult to deal with than coming to terms with the impending end of the world. Also with Kiefer Sutherland, Alexander Skarsgård and Brady Corbet. Directed by Lars von Trier. [2:16]

SEX/NUDITY 7 - A woman shoves a young man on the ground and straddles him and it is implied that they are having sex; we see the woman thrusting on top of the man (no nudity is visible and they both appear fully clothed) and he later tells the woman, "We've had good sex."
 We see a fully nude woman (her bare breasts are visible and her pubic region is obscured by her leg), lying on the ground; another woman sees her and watches as the nude woman rubs her own breast. A woman is completely nude and we see her bare buttocks as another woman attempts to help her into a bathtub; her bare breasts are seen as she sits. A woman unzips her dress; no nudity is visible. A man unzips and removes his pants and he is shown wearing boxer brief-style underwear. A woman pulls down the pants of her sleeping sister and we briefly see the woman's brief-style underwear. We see a woman in a bathtub (no nudity is visible). We see women at a wedding wearing low-cut dresses, including a bridal gown that exposes cleavage. We see a slideshow of advertisements where four women appear in bikinis and are lying on the floor.
 A man and a woman kiss passionately (the man is shown wearing boxer brief-style underwear), he tries to lift the woman's dress, and the woman pushes him away and asks him to zip her dress, which he does and she walks away.
 A fully clothed man and a woman kiss passionately, the woman guides the man's hand under her dress, the man suggestively kisses her cleavage as she straddles him and the woman pulls away moments later.
 A woman lovingly caresses a man's face, the man grabs the woman's face and they kiss passionately. A man and a woman kiss in several scenes throughout the movie. A man and woman kiss in front of a crowd of people. A woman holds a man's hands and kisses them. A man kisses a woman's forehead. A man holds a woman in his arms and kisses the back of her head. An older man kisses a woman's hands and places his hand on the lap of another woman.
 A man and a woman hold hands and we see the man's arms wrapped around the woman's shoulder. A man holds a woman's hand and rubs her arm. A woman playfully smacks a man on the behind when he gets out of a car. A man carries a woman in his arms. Men and women dance, we see a man dip a woman and hold onto her waist. We see men and women hugging and kissing one another on the cheek in greeting.
 A woman tells a man that she had not been present for her adult daughter's first time she had intercourse. A woman jokingly tells a man that she is a horse's "mistress" because no one else can ride him.

VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - Three people are seen sitting inside a teepee made of sticks, an extremely large planet is seen slowly approaching Earth, winds pick up as the planet comes closer much more quickly and we see the silhouettes of the people being consumed by fire as the planets collide.
 A woman discovers her husband lying in a horse stable with drool on his mouth and she checks his neck for a pulse (the man is dead and it is implied that he killed himself with an overdose of prescription pills); she then slowly covers the man's body with hay.
 A woman shouts angrily at a horse and beats it repeatedly with a crop, despite another woman shouting at her to stop; we see the horse on the ground and the woman continues beating it with a horse crop until the other woman grabs the crop from her hand.
 A woman panics and lifts up her young son, she carries him through the rain and cries when her car will not start; another woman attempts to calm her and the woman shouts at her and drives off in a golf cart. A woman panics and shouts while looking for a man.
 A woman and her young son wince in pain as they are struck by hail falling from the sky. A woman gasps for air and a man tries to calm her, explaining that an approaching planet had temporarily taken part of the Earth's atmosphere.
 We see a man angrily gather a woman's belongings and throw them on the ground outside; moments later he picks them up and carries them back inside. A man angrily throws a bowl against a wall and then lifts up a plate and smashes it on the ground and storms away. A woman shoves books on a bookcase and drags a sofa to block the door of a room.
 We hear horses whinnying and knocking against their stalls, a woman walks into the horse stable, we see horses knocking into the walls and we continue to hear the horses whinnying in a loud panic.
 A man asks a woman if she is "trying to kill us all" when he sees her holding an unidentified bottle of pills; the man then threatens to take the pills from the woman, she locks them in a drawer and we later see the woman open the drawer and take the pill bottle (she shakes it and discovers the pills are missing).
 A woman shouts at her sister. A man angrily whispers at a woman. Two women have a tense conversation; one of the women warns the other, "You said there would be no scenes tonight." A man tersely tells a woman that another woman had "ruined his wedding" and he would not look at her. A woman crudely tells another woman (her sister) that she does not like her plan, saying they might as well "meet on the toilet"; the woman cries and tells the other woman that she hates her. A man tells a woman that he had tried to throw out the woman's mother and the woman jokes, "You usually do." An older woman dramatically addresses a man and a woman that had just been married, shouting "Till death does us part, etcetera." A man asks his wife if she is frightened as they watch a planet in the sky; the man later tells the woman that the planet, due to calculations, cannot be guaranteed to not hit Earth. A woman tells her husband that she is afraid of "the stupid planet" that is slowly approaching Earth and the man tells the woman that it will not hit Earth just as it had not hit other planets. A woman reassures her son to not be afraid of a planet that is slowly approaching Earth; another woman overhears their conversation and tells the woman she is not afraid of the encroaching planet. A boy cries and a woman tries to comfort him after he says there is "nothing to do and nowhere to hide" when a planet is approaching Earth. A woman looks at a picture that reads "Melancholia and Earth's Dance of Death," and a man looks at the picture and crumples it, telling the woman that the planet will not hit Earth. A man reassures a woman that losing electrical power in their home will be temporary and will be restored after a planet passes by Earth. A woman cries and tells another woman that she believes life on Earth is evil and that it will come to an end; the woman tells her that her son is going to need a place to live, and the woman responds that, "Life is only on Earth, and not for long." Two men unload supplies from a truck, one man tells a woman that they are in case a planet gets too close to Earth and asks her not to tell another woman because she gets very anxious. A woman tells her husband that her sister is "ill" after she explains very simple tasks to her over the phone. A woman tells her mother that she is "frightened," and her mother advises her to stop dreaming and leave the house. A woman appears completely lethargic; her sister asks her what the problem is and the woman states that she is "trudging" through life. An older woman jokingly tells her adult daughter to slap her father after he teases the waiter by hiding his spoons.
 As part of the introduction of the film we see the following: We see what appear to be dead, dried-up birds and bats falling from the sky behind a woman; a woman lies in a stream, very slowly moving downstream and she appears to be in great pain; we see from space as a planet appears to slowly smash into Earth; ashes fall slowly onto a canvas painting of a group of hunters; we watch in very slow motion as a horse falls onto a field; a woman is seen, in very slow motion, as she appears in pain while carrying a young boy on her back; in very slow motion, we see a woman attempting to run as her legs, arms and the train of her dress are dragging vines; through the window of a house, we see a small fire.
 A woman moans and shouts as her sister tries to get her to take a bath and she collapses to the floor crying. A woman helps another woman out of a car; she appears very weak and ill. A woman yelps softly when a man is zipping her dress, implying he had caught her skin in the zipper. A woman scowls and weeps openly after trying to eat a piece of food; she says, "It tastes like ashes" while a boy watches her with concern.
 A boy gives his aunt a small dagger as a present. When releasing floating paper lanterns into the air, a man's lantern catches on fire on the ground (no one is injured).
 A woman wearing a very full wedding dress crouches on the ground in the middle of a golf course and urinates (no nudity is visible and we only hear the sound of urinating). An older woman crudely tells a man that she had not been present the first time her daughter had defecated on a toilet.

LANGUAGE 5 - About 4 F-words and its derivatives, 2 scatological terms (1 mild), 6 mild obscenities, name-calling (rather domineering, stupid, stark raving mad, knows nothing, bad influence), exclamations (shut up), 2 religious profanities, 3 religious exclamations.

SUBSTANCE USE - A man dies after presumably taking prescription drugs. A woman drinks directly from a large bottle of liquor after a woman hands it to her, a man takes multiple long drinks from a bottle of liquor, men and women are seen drinking wine and toasting with champagne at a wedding celebration, two women and a man toast with wine and a woman asks another woman to have a glass of wine.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - The end of the world, severe depression, disappointment, planetary changes, the solar system, apocalypse, avoidance, suicide.

MESSAGE - Depression is a very serious medical condition. People react very differently when they believe the world is going to end.

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.


how to
support us

PLEASE DONATE

We are a totally independent website with no connections to political, religious or other groups & we neither solicit nor choose advertisers. You can help us keep our independence with a donation.

NO MORE ADS!

Become a member of our premium site for just $1/month & access advance reviews, without any ads, not a single one, ever. And you will be helping support our website & our efforts.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

We welcome suggestions & criticisms -- and we accept compliments too. While we read all emails & try to reply we don't always manage to do so; be assured that we will not share your e-mail address.

how to
support us

PLEASE DONATE

We are a totally independent website with no connections to political, religious or other groups & we neither solicit nor choose advertisers. You can help us keep our independence with a donation.

NO MORE ADS!

Become a member of our premium site for just $2/month & access advance reviews, without any ads, not a single one, ever. And you will be helping support our website & our efforts.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

We welcome suggestions & criticisms -- and we will accept compliments too. While we read all emails & try to reply we do not always manage to do so; be assured that we will not share your e-mail address.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter

Know when new reviews are published
We will never sell or share your email address with anybody and you can unsubscribe at any time

You're all set! Please check your email for confirmation.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This