Palmer | 2021 | R | – 7.5.8

Why is “Palmer” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “language, some sexual content/nudity and brief violence.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes two sex scenes with nudity, a couple of kissing scenes, disparaging comments about a transgender person, a couple of fight scenes ending with bloody wounds, discussions of a robbery and a beating with a baseball bat, bullying, a woman dies from natural causes, and over 30 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Editor’s Note: A character is presented as being a transgender girl (MAB) but is referred to as a boy, and hence we refer to him with male pronouns.

After serving 12 years in prison, a man (Justin Timberlake) returns to his Louisiana Parish, where he lives with his grandmother (June Squibb) and befriends a boy (Ryder Allen) that lives next door with his mother (Juno Temple), who’s struggling with addiction. Also with Dean Winters, Alisha Wainwright, Wynn Everett, Lance E. Nichols, J.D. Evermore, Jake Brennan and Jesse C. Boyd. Directed by Fisher Stevens. [Running Time: 1:50]

Palmer SEX/NUDITY 7

 – A man and a woman have sex in several positons and we hear moaning and see thrusting (we see the man’s bare back, abdomen, buttocks, chest and pubic hair and the woman’s bare breasts, abdomen, buttocks and legs); they wake up in bed together and we see the woman’s bare buttocks and the man’s bare chest and abdomen. A man and a woman kiss passionately, the scene cuts to them having sex in a bedroom, and we see the man thrusting and then the woman thrusting; we see his bare chest and abdomen, and her bare legs and the side of her breast. A woman straddles a man seated on a sofa and they kiss; her blouse is unbuttoned to reveal a camisole and cleavage and he wears a T-shirt.
► A man and a woman flirt in a few scenes. A woman complains to a man that he irritated the area between her legs and he needs to shave his face (oral sex is implied). A boy says to a man, “You had a sleepover with my mama and you didn’t wear any pajamas or underwear.” A man says to a boy, “You know you’re a boy, right,” and then tells him, “Boys don’t play with dolls.”
► A boy chooses a princess costume to wear for Halloween after a man tries to talk him out of it. A boy puts on lipstick and looks in a mirror the way a woman had done before.
► Teen girls wear skimpy cheerleading and majorette outfits at a football game (legs to the upper thighs and cleavage are visible). A woman wears a low-cut top that reveals cleavage. A boy sits in a bathtub and we see his bare chest, abdomen and knees. A woman wears a low-cut sweater that reveals cleavage.

Palmer VIOLENCE/GORE 5

 – A man charges into a bar, finds another man and punches him hard in the face; he continues punching him while the man is on the floor (our view is blocked) and shoves another man against a wall (the beaten man is shown with a very bloody nose and face and the man doing the beating has blood on his hand). A man and a woman yell at each other, the man pushes the woman onto a sofa and holds his hands around her neck, a boy tries to pull the man away and the man shoves the boy to the floor; another man throws the attacker off the woman and into a wall where he lies unconscious and the man and the boy leave. A man yells at a woman violently in several scenes, cursing and calling her names. Three boys on a playground bully another boy and one asks him, “Why do you act like a girl?”, another boy calls him names and pushes him to the ground until a man grabs the attacker by the arm and threatens to break his arm if he ever touches the boy again.
► A man finds a woman dead in her bed and we see people gathered at a funeral. We hear that a man’s father died when he was a teenager and that his mother left him when he was young. A man and a woman argue and yell at each other and the woman cries and says that Child Protective Services took her son away. A woman comes to a man’s house to find her son and she looks sickly. A boy rushes into a house crying, with makeup smeared on his face and he says that a man did it to him. A man is arrested and taken away in a police car; a boy chases the car crying and calling for the man. A man gets belligerent in a bar and is rude to another man. A boy scribbles on another boy’s painting in a classroom and is reprimanded by the teacher.
► A man in a bar calls to his teenage son and the boy leaves saying, “He’s drunk.” A woman confronts a man about his taking care of a boy and the boy yells at her. A man takes a boy to the police station to have him handled by child services when the boy’s mother leaves him alone; the man says, “He ain’t my problem.” A man says that he went to prison for attempted murder. A man says of a young boy, “There’s something seriously wrong with that kid,” as he watches the child dance with shimmying hips. An elderly woman says, “They won’t let me drive anymore.” A man describes a small town as being all about “Church and football.” A woman accuses her adult grandson of not giving her the right change after going to the market for her. A man tells another man to stay away from a woman (sexually speaking). A man says that another man was lucky that a man that attacked him uses an aluminum bat instead of a wooden bat or he’d be dead. A man and a boy talk about stealing. A boy mocks another boy for the Halloween costume that he is wearing. A man talks about getting injured playing college football and that he had surgeries, but couldn’t play any longer, ending his career and his college education. A man talks about committing a robbery and that he nearly beat a man to death. A man says of another man, “You can’t trust a guy with a mullet.” A man pleads with a judge to allow him temporary custody of a boy, but she declines his request. A boy tells a man, “Your breath smells kinda funny.” A man smells a boy’s armpit and tells him that he stinks and should go wash.
► A man cleans up a puddle of vomit (we see the goo) on the floor in a school and children walk past holding their noses and exclaiming. A man spits on the ground (we see saliva). A man brushes his teeth and spits toothpaste in the sink. We hear an elderly woman coughing at night.

Palmer LANGUAGE 8

 – About 32 F-words, 15 scatological terms, 7 anatomical terms, 8 mild obscenities, 5 derogatory terms for gay people, name-calling (old fart, trouble, convicted felon, heifer, bossy little thing, stupid, drug addict, whore, creepy, kiddo, criminal, liar), exclamations (oh my gosh, ooh, cheers, wow, hey, yay, dang it, jeez Louise, calm the [F-word deleted] down, shush, ew, whee), 8 religious profanities (GD), 19 religious exclamations (e.g. Good Lord, God Knows, Thank God, Jesus, Oh My God, Jesus H. Christ, Oh Christ, Jesus Christ, Holy Cow, Christ, Amen, Heaven In A Cup, Holy [scatological term deleted]). | profanity glossary |

Palmer SUBSTANCE USE

 – Prescription medication vials are seen on a folding table (they are not identified), we see drug paraphernalia in a woman’s house, a woman talks about being an addict, a man says of a woman that she was too high to remember pressing charges against a man, and a man talks about taking pills after an injury. A man drinks liquor and beer in a bar in several scenes, a man drinks beers at home in several scenes, a woman orders a drink in a bar, and a man and a woman drink beers in her house. A woman smokes cigarettes in several scenes, a man smokes cigarettes in several scenes, people smoke cigarettes in a bar in a few scenes, and we see a collection of cigarette butts in an ashtray.

Palmer DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Prison time, parole, drug testing, college football, restored citizens, kidnapping, parole violations, abuse, drug addiction, lost opportunities, suspicion, death of loved ones, second chances, bullies, legal guardianship, abandonment.

Palmer MESSAGE

 – Family can be found in the most unexpected places.