Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle | 2018 | PG-13 | – 1.6.1

Why is “Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “intense sequences of action violence, some bloody images and thematic elements.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes several violent encounters between humans and jungle animals that end in bloody wounds and death, several violent encounters among jungle animals that also end in bloody wounds and death, and some name-calling and bullying. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.”

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A darker live-action, non-Disney and non-musical version based on Rudyard Kipling’s classic “All the Mowgli Stories”: Mowgli (Rohan Chand) is raised by wolves in the Indian jungle when his mother is killed by a renegade tiger (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch). Protected and trained to survive by a panther (Christian Bale) and a bear (Andy Serkis), Mowgli has to eventually face the tiger and try to protect his wolf pack. Also with Matthew Rhys and Freida Pinto, and the voices of Cate Blanchett, Naomie Harris, Peter Mullan, Jack Reynor, Eddie Marsan, Tom Hollander and Louis Ashbourne Serkis. Directed by Andy Serkis. Several lines of dialogue are spoken in Hindi with English subtitles. [Running Time: 1:44]

Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle SEX/NUDITY 1

 – A woman bathes a boy in a tub (we see his bare shoulders and chest). A boy is shown shirtless and wearing a loin cloth type covering (we see his bare chest, abdomen and back). An infant is shown shirtless (we see his bare chest, abdomen and back) in a few scenes. Women are shown wearing Sari type dresses that reveal a bit of their bare abdomen and men are shown wearing a cloth wrapped around their waists and we see their bare chests, abdomens and backs. A man raises his shirt tail to show a boy a scar on his abdomen.

Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle VIOLENCE/GORE 6

 - We hear people screaming and see them running as a tiger roars and chases them through a jungle: a woman runs off-screen (we see blood on her back) and it is implied that she has been killed by the tiger as he lunges back onscreen toward a man (we assume he has also been killed). Several wolves challenge the leader of the pack and we see them biting and throwing each other (bloody wounds are evident) and one wolf s thrown off a cliff. A boy with a knife calls for a tiger to come to fight him: the tiger comes and elephants surround him, they kick him and we see him thrown back and forth, and the boy throws the knife into the tiger's back and he roars; the boy jumps on the tiger's back, then jumps into a tree and the tiger gets stuck in it, and the boy stabs the tiger (we see some blood) while a man shoots at the tiger and the boy's arm is grazed (we see blood), a wolf lunges at the tiger, who slashes him (we see the wolf lying on the ground with a bloody abdominal wound and he dies), and the tiger turns away and collapses, lunges at the boy again and the boy stabs him, killing him. A boy is grabbed by a group of monkeys and is dragged up a sheer rock wall, his head is hit against a rock knocking him out and he is taken into a cave filled with other monkeys and a tiger enters with jackals; the tiger slaps a monkey out of the way (it is thrown through the air) and slowly slashes the boy's shoulder and down his arm (we see the bloody slashes and cuts down his arm), and a bear and a panther drop through the roof of the cave and roar at the monkeys that attack them, biting and tearing at them (we see them with bloody wounds) until a large python moves through the cave and tells them all to stop.
► Several elephants charge toward a village and one elephant throws a man (we hear the man scream and see him lying on the ground, presumably dead). A bear and a panther argue and fight shoving and biting each other. Wolves, a bear and a panther snarl, roar and bark at a tiger and jackals while protecting a human child. A boy runs through a jungle after seeing a tiger and he falls in a pit trap, narrowly missing sharpened spikes inside the pit (he has some blood on his arm); a tiger prowls at the top of the hole and an elephant pulls the boy out by wrapping him with its trunk. A panther trains a boy how to hunt and we see the panther lunge at an antelope; the antelope lies on the ground as it dies and the panther and boy watch (we see a bit of blood on the dying animal).
► A boy with a knife stands over a man and contemplates killing him. A boy talks to a giant python in a cave and the python wraps herself around him, picks him up and seems to squeeze, and then drops him to the ground. A boy with a flaming branch threatens wolves, a tiger and several jackals to stay away from another wolf. A boy runs through a forest with a flaming branch, he ends up in a village where he is surrounded by men and one man hits him in the head knocking him out; the boy wakes up in a cage and hits his head when he tries to stand up. A boy tries to pull bars off a cage where he is locked and tries to bite them with no success.
► An infant with blood smeared on his chest and back cries while sitting in a tree with bloody claw marks on the bark and a panther approaches him, takes him in his mouth and puts him safely at the mouth of a cave. Wolf cubs approach an infant and adult wolves examine him, one licks blood off his chest and they talk about what to do with him. A jackal leers at an infant and two wolves tell him to leave the child alone. A large python head with large eyes moves across the screen while a voiceover talks about an event that left a child an orphan in the jungle. A boy swims under water and looks up to the surface to see a tiger rinsing its mouth from blood (we see blood in the water); the boy stays under the water until the tiger leaves. Children poke sticks into a cage where a boy is held and throw rocks at him; he grabs a stick and pulls a boy against the cage hitting his head, roars and lunges at them. Jackals tear at a cow carcass (we hear tearing and see bloody pieces of flesh).
► Several wolf cubs bully a smaller albino cub, shoving, kicking and teasing him, calling him a freak. A boy lays on the ground while a scorpion crawls across his chest and stands on his face with its tail raised to strike, and then skitters away (the boy is being trained to stay focused). A boy jumps from a tree limb trying to reach another tree limb and falls several times before managing to catch the limb (we do not see injuries), but he falls again. A jackal's tail catches fire and he squeals all the way to a body of water to douse it. An elephant wraps a boy with its trunk and gently places him on its back.
► A panther chases wolf cubs and a boy through a jungle, along a narrow path and the boy jumps through trees, through a cave and hides as the panther snaps and paws at him and then tackles him to the ground where the boy yells in frustration. A wolf lunges toward an antelope and misses (he lies motionless on the ground) and other wolves seem upset with him.
► A boy races through the jungle with wolf cubs and gets distracted by monkeys holding fruit out for him. A boy dangles from a tree limb, a bear throws a piece of fruit at him and he falls to the ground with a thud (no visible injuries). A boy throws a piece of fruit at another boy and hits him in the back of the head.
► A boy yells at a wolf cub and tells him, "You came out wrong," and the cub cowers and leaves. A tiger and a wolf argue. We hear that wolves are fighting amongst themselves. Jungle animals discuss what to do with a human infant found in the jungle and a tiger enters saying, "His parents are dead. I killed them." A tiger says, "The man-cub's blood will run down my chin." Wolves talk about a law of the jungle stating that "No wolf can kill man in the jungle." Jungle animals discuss whether to keep a human child in their pack or not. Jungle animals talk about man taking over more of the jungle every year. We hear that men are coming to hunt a tiger that has been killing cattle. A man is questioned by village people about when he will kill a tiger and he says, "I will kill your tiger." A wolf tells a boy he must leave the pack.
► We see a dead cow with bloody patches on the carcass (it is implied that it was killed by a tiger). Several dead and mounted animals are shown in a man's quarters; a few are shown in jars. A boy catches a fly or beetle in his hand and eats it (we hear crunching as he chews). A boy soaks in water and we see a cut on his forehead, shoulder and down his arm and a boy has a scar on his shoulder. A jackal sits in a body of water and we hear bubbles as if he has flatulated. Flies buzz around jackals whenever we see them. A panther has a scar on his throat from a collar that he was forced to wear. We see a broken elephant tusk in a man's quarters. A boy takes a bite of food and spits it out. A man gives a boy a knife and shows him how to cut meat off a dead animal; we see the bloody meat and the boy eats it raw. A boy puts a beetle in a woman's hand and she holds it.

Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle LANGUAGE 1

 - Name-calling (freaks, unpredictable, fools, stupid), exclamations (lost your mind), 1 religious exclamation (God Knows). | profanity glossary |

Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle SUBSTANCE USE

 - A man drinks from a bottle of liquor and appears to be drunk when he stumbles away, and a man drinks from a flask. A man puts a pipe in his mouth.

Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle DISCUSSION TOPICS

 - Death of parents, life in the jungle, being orphaned, being different, trust, doubt, being special, weakness, fear, failure, war, shame, peace, chaos.

Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle MESSAGE

 - Eventually we have to decide what constitutes a family and what we're prepared to do to protect it.