The Secret Garden | 2020 | PG | – 0.3.1

Why is “The Secret Garden” rated PG? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “thematic elements and some mild peril.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a couple of cleavage revealing dresses, a house fire, a dog’s leg is caught in a trap and we see a bloody wound, discussions and scenes of the aftermath of unrest between India and Pakistan in 1947, many discussions of the death of parents and the effects on their children, and many arguments and some name-calling. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Another adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 classic novel, updated to the post-WWII era: When the parents of a neglected, albeit pampered, 10-year-old girl (Dixie Egerickx) perish in India, she is sent to the English countryside to live with her wealthy, morose uncle (Colin Firth). While exploring the immense house she discovers her sickly cousin (Edan Hayhurst), who spends all his time in bed, and while roaming the moors she finds a well-concealed and perhaps magical garden. Also with Julie Walters, Maeve Dermody, Isis Davis, Amir Wilson, Richard Hansell, Rupert Young and Jemma Powell. Directed by Marc Munden. [Running Time: 1:39]

The Secret Garden SEX/NUDITY 0

 – A young girl tells a woman that she will need to dress her and the woman seems alarmed.
► Two women wear low-cut evening gowns that reveal cleavage and bare backs. A young girl is shown sitting in a bathtub where she is covered with water (her bare knees are seen).

The Secret Garden VIOLENCE/GORE 3

 – We see clouds of smoke billowing in the air as a large house is engulfed in flames: a young girl enters the house searching for a man and she helps him out as they both cough from the smoke and are nearly trapped inside; they fall down a flight of stairs and pull themselves out to safety. A dog runs into fog and we hear it whimper and cry and we see it with its paw caught in a trap (there is blood on its fur); a young girl opens the trap to free the dog and it limps away (we see it limping in several more scenes).
► A man enters a room and is startled to find a young girl there; we hear that her parents died and that she will be sent to live with a relative. A young girl pounds on a door trying to reach her mother, a woman pulls her away and her father carries her away from the door. A young girl talks about her parents being kidnapped and that she was left all alone; we see her eating stale food from a table. A young girl walks through streets filled with rubble and her face and clothing are smudged with dirt. A couple of scenes show unrest in India in 1947 and we hear about people fleeing unrest. A young girl is shown in a dark room as we hear loud sounds outside the house; it sounds like people running and some are yelling. A pre-teen boy falls out of his wheelchair and a young girl helps him back up (there are no injuries). A young girl is locked in her room at night and told that she should use the chamber pot under her bed if she needs to go to the bathroom in the night.
► A young girl says that she killed her mother (she did not). A young girl is reprimanded in several scenes by two women and one threatens to send her away to school if she doesn’t change her ways. A man tells a young girl, “If you do cause me trouble, I will send you away.” A child says of his mother, “I hate her for dying.” A man tells his young daughter that her mother is sick and the child yells, “Why doesn’t she just die?” A pre-teen boy and a young girl hold a dog on the ground so the boy can wrap and bandage the dog’s leg; we hear the animal whimpering and it stumbles and lies in the grass afterward, as the girl yells at the boy for not helping the dog. Two children argue and one asks the other, “Who is the bigger liar? Two children argue and one tells the other, “You don’t deserve a mother’s love.” A pre-teen boy screams in a few scenes and a young girl covers his mouth and wheels him out of a house and through woods in a couple of scenes, scaring him. A man yells at a young girl and says he is going to send her away. A young girl reads letters from her mother and her aunt about one of them dying and the other wanting to be with her at the end. A young girl yells at a man about the way he has treated his son and for making his house like a prison. A man says, “I’ve ruined everything.”
► A young girl sits in a tree and drops something on a woman (there are no injuries) when she follows her through the woods; the woman catches the girl, grabs her by the arm, and speaks to her sternly. A girl seems disgusted by a slice of sandwich meat and throws it among the brush; she hears a dog and the animal picks up the meat, approaches the girl and barks, scaring the girl. A pre-teen boy tentatively feeds a dog a slice of sandwich meat and the dog licks his hand. A young girl runs through a field and sees someone in the fog that disappears when she calls to him. A young girl follows a dog through a path in a forest and the dog climbs under a tall wall covered with thick vines. A young girl climbs a thick vine up a tall wall, she falls off the top of the wall and tumbles down a hill on the other side (she is unharmed). A young girl finds a wounded dog and follows it through a stream and an isolated garden. A young girl climbs on a large rocking horse tipping it over when she is frustrated (there are no injuries). Three children push through a thick collection of plants and we see them turning brown and withering as they pass.
► A man is shown missing his lower leg and walking with crutches; we see a healed stump from below a turned up pant leg. A young girl walks through dark hallways in a house and finds a pre-teen boy in a bed in a room and we see a wheelchair next to his bed. A woman tells a young girl that she should not stare when she sees what afflicts a man; we see that he has a hump on his back. A man is visibly upset when a woman shows him a portrait of his wife and he says to get rid of everything and that “she’s gone” and he doesn’t want to be reminded of her. A pre-teen boy says that he’s dying and that the last time he went outside, the stench of the roses almost killed him. A young girl threatens a pre-teen boy to box his ears for poaching. A pre-teen boy spits in his hand and a young girl spits in her own hand before they shake hands to make a pact. A young girl spits in her hand and shows a pre-teen boy how to spit in his own hand and they shake hands.
► A pre-teen boy complains about having to take medicine and a woman tells him she’ll come back later after he calms down. A young girl stomps her foot when talking to a woman about needing help dressing, what she expects for breakfast, and whether the woman is her “servant.” A young girl hears strange noises at night and asks about them the next day, and she walks through a hallway and sees her reflection; she is told later that the sounds are the wind and she asks again later if the house is haunted by the ghosts of dead soldiers. A young girl asks a pre-teen boy about his “cursed house,” and he says that the house killed his mother. A young girl says that someone, “Won’t like me, no one does.”
► A young girl pushes a plate of food away and says that it is “disgusting,” and she tells a boy, “I need better food than this. My parents are dead.” A young girl remembers climbing in a garden and calling to her mother who told her to be quiet and asked the girl’s caregiver to keep her quiet. A young girl tells a story while playing with shadow puppets and describes an evil demon that kidnaps someone. A girl throws a doll into water from a ship and says, “I’m not a child.”
► A man stands outside the door of his pre-teen son and seems thoughtful, but he does not enter. A young girl remembers playing hide-and-seek with her father and she hides under sheets in a bed; when the sheets are pulled back, she sees her mother (both of her parents are dead).

The Secret Garden LANGUAGE 1

 – Name-calling (disgusting, plain little piece of goods, savages, odd duck, servant, fools, puppies, youngins, thin, white, prison, besotted, savage girl, murderess, unforgivable, rudest, tardy, the little servant girl), exclamations (careful, pipe down). | profanity glossary |

The Secret Garden SUBSTANCE USE

 – A man drinks from a glass of whiskey.

The Secret Garden DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Wealth, growing up, taking care of yourself, death of loved ones, grief, loneliness, parenting, death of parents, war, tragedy, guilt, trust, civility.

The Secret Garden MESSAGE

 – Life needs to be lived. Many members of the English upper classes are emotionally stunted and can be quite foolish.