The New Mutants | 2020 | PG-13 | – 2.6.5

Why is “The New Mutants” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “violent content, some disturbing/bloody images, some strong language, thematic elements and suggestive material.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes teen girls kissing, a teen boy and a teen girl kiss, and partial nudity, many scenes of teens trying to control powers that have hurt and/or killed people in their past, teens having flashbacks to scenes of torture and mayhem as well as talking about having been responsible for killing people, encounters with a giant demon bear, and 1 F-word and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Five young people find themselves locked in a secret facility, prevented from escaping by a force field, and undergoing medical tests by a sole scientist (Alice Braga), who tells them that they have superpowers they must learn how to harness. Also with Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, Blu Hunt and Henry Zaga. Directed by Josh Boone. [Running Time: 1:38]

The New Mutants SEX/NUDITY 2

 – Two teen girls kiss passionately, two teen girls kiss tenderly and two teen girls kiss in a scene in a movie. A teen girl kisses a teen boy on the cheek.
► A teen boy follows a teen girl’s voice to a swimming pool where we see her swimming and she invites the boy to join her; he removes his clothes to his boxer briefs (we see is bare chest, abdomen, back and legs) and dives into the pool where they kiss and he then pulls away (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details).
► Teens dance together in a common room. A teen boy makes a remark about a teen girl being a “nympho, hopefully.” A teen boy talks about how many girls he’s been with and he lies (we see a needle on a lie detector machine bouncing around).
► A nude teen boy stands up holding a plank of wood over his crotch (we see his bare chest, abdomen and legs to the thighs). A teen boy is shirtless and we see his bare chest and abdomen. Two teen girls are shown in a communal shower with bare backs and shoulders shown. A teen girl wears outfits that reveal cleavage and legs covered with stockings with holes in them, in several scenes.

The New Mutants VIOLENCE/GORE 6

 – Many creatures with no eyes, long fingers and mouths full of pointed teeth attack several teens: a teen boy beats a couple of them with a fire extinguisher, one touches a teen boy on the back and he turns around and sprays it with flames from his eyes and hands. A man and a teen girl wake to rumbling and crashing and flames shoot through the sky outside; they run and we see fireballs exploding behind them, people run and scream, a person runs in flames, a car in flames is thrown through the air and the girl is left in a hiding place, while the man goes to investigate and his body lands hard on the ground in front of her (his skin seems to be blue-tinged and with frost on it); the girl runs and is thrown or falls down a hill and lands unconscious but seemingly uninjured on the ground. A giant demon bear with glowing red eyes breaks a wall down and grabs a woman in its mouth (we see it bite down on her as she flails and screams). Several teens use their powers to fight a giant demon bear with hacking with swords, bursting into flames and slashing at it with claws until the bear disappears in a cloud. A teen girl with claws drops onto a woman’s shoulders and cuts and scratches her (we see bloody wounds on the woman’s clothing and blood drips on the floor). Something touches a teen boy’s back in a swimming pool and he turns around to see a flaming creature moving toward him, and he gets out of the pool and cowers in the corner; the scene cuts away and when it returns we see the teen completely in flames and yelling. A teen girl sees a man with bloody face wounds enter and move toward her carrying a glowing hot branding iron; the man pins her to the floor after she begins to morph into a wolf (we see claws and fur covered shoulders and arms) and presses the iron against her (we hear her screaming, but do not see the branding take place; afterward, we see a fresh wound spelling “W” on her neck). Creatures with pointed teeth move toward a teen boy and a teen girl and the girl disappears leaving the boy alone; he bursts into flames and runs through the creatures, destroying them. A teen girl’s eyes turn bright blue and her arm is covered with metal and a glowing sword appears in her hand; she uses the sword to dispatch many creatures with mouths full of pointed teeth.
► An explosion pushes a teen boy against a backdrop, breaking it, and a washing machine seems charred (he’s unharmed). A woman takes a teen girl on a gurney to a room where she puts a mask on her face and connects her to an IV as she tells her about having to put her family dog to sleep because it had rabies, implying that she is planning to kill the girl. A woman encloses several teens in force fields and tells one that she will have to be “put down.” A teen girl kicks out the face of a clock in a tower and climbs out on a ledge preparing to jump and commit suicide; another teen girl helps her back in and they both fall on the floor unharmed.
► Two teen girls argue, they yell and attack each other, one head-butts the other and one holds the other on a table by the throat and tries to hit her with a metallic arm. A teen girl runs toward another teen girl in anger and the second teen disappears causing the first to fall on the ground (she’s unharmed). A teen girl runs outside and slams into an invisible force field; she falls back onto the ground and we see her nose bleeding. A teen girl bumps into another teen girl aggressively.
► A teen girl walks toward the open door of her cell and sees a drawing of a creature with a smiling facemask on a wall that frightens her. Two teen girls are locked in solitary confinement cells after fighting. A teen girl wakes up handcuffed to a hospital bed, she drags the bed across the floor to a window and then to a locked door where she yells for help. A teen girl in a hospital bed sees something through an air vent above her. Two teen girls climb through a ventilating system and to the outside of a building, and they go to a cemetery and lie on the ground near headstones. A teen girl sees a child with abilities being tested by guards and dragged on the floor by the feet.
► A teen boy looks at himself in the mirror, yells and punches himself in the face. A teen boy with a chain around his waist attached to a large block of cement spins around in the air while engulfed in flames. A teen girl goes to a confessional in a chapel and hears noises outside as something comes into the church (we do not see anything). A teen boy pushes another teen boy in a wheelchair and it tips over (the boy falls out of the chair but is unharmed). A teen girl’s eyes turn dark when her powers are engaged.
► A teen girl tells another teen girl that she is not invited to go with her and two teen boys. A teen boy says that he burned his girlfriend and killed her with his hands when he couldn’t control his superpower. A teen girl says, “I killed 18 men, one-by-one.” A teen boy says, “I killed my dad and most of his crew.” A teen girl flashes back to when she was a child and we see beings wearing masks gathered around her in her bed. A teen girl sees a large figure with glowing red eyes standing over her and growling in her sleep. A teen girl remembers running freely through woods and she says that a “reverend tried to pray it out of me” and later that he “beat me half to death” and called her a witch. A teen girl has nightmares about an attack on her town and that something chased her while growling. A teen boy hears something thumping inside a clothes washer and when he approaches it he sees men in a coal mine digging using pickaxes; he approaches one man that turns to him and asks, “What did you do?” and he awakens with a start. A teen girl talks about men who like to keep children trapped in cages. Teens strap themselves into a lie detector machine and ask each other questions. A teen girl tells another teen girl, “Maybe we both should have jumped.” A woman tells a teen girl in a hospital bed that she is the sole survivor of a tornado that blew through her town; the girl says that it was not a tornado and that whatever it was, growled and chased her. Four teens in a group session are asked to discuss the first manifestation of their mutations/abilities. A teen girl talks to a dragon hand puppet in several scenes. A woman talks about baby rattlesnakes being more dangerous than adults because they don’t know their powers. A teen girl talks about a “demon bear that feeds off our fear.” A teen girl talks about our bodies being “cages.” A woman gets a message that instructs her to terminate a subject that presents extreme danger.
► A teen boy is shown with a bruised eye and his arm in a cast and sling in much of the movie. A teen girl is shown with a brand on her shoulder and later another brand on her neck. A woman draws blood from a teen girl and we see blood filling a vial. A doctor gives a teen girl an injection to help her relax.

The New Mutants LANGUAGE 5

 – 1 F-word, 6 scatological terms, 1 anatomical term, 8 mild obscenities, name-calling (witch, Pocahontas, you people, Standing Rock, stupid, dog, virgin), 2 religious exclamations (e.g. Jesus, Holy [scatological term deleted]). | profanity glossary |

The New Mutants SUBSTANCE USE

 – A doctor gives a teen girl an injection to help her relax and she seems to hallucinate, a teen girl is strapped to a gurney and given a sedative and an IV that we understand will kill her, teens talk about having spiked a woman’s tea and we see her sleeping.

The New Mutants DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Good vs. evil, mutations, fear, survivor’s guilt, trauma, lying, suicide, control, obedience, trust, claustrophobia.

The New Mutants MESSAGE

 – We are each capable of both good and evil, and we need to choose.