Spirited | 2022 | PG-13 | – 3.4.4

Why is “Spirited” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “language, some suggestive material and thematic elements.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes an implied sex scene, a couple of kissing and hugging scenes, a kiss depicted in an animated sequence, a memorial service for a boy that we are told committed suicide after a disparaging social media post about him, several scenes of people being thrown and falling with no injuries visible, the death of a loved one, discussions of ghosts, arguments, and some strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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A modern interpretation of the Charles Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol”: The ghost of Christmas Present (Will Ferrell) is contemplating retirement, but as a last act he is determined to redeem a seemingly unredeemable man (Ryan Reynolds). Also with Octavia Spencer, Patrick Page, Sunita Mani, Loren G. Woods, Tracy Morgan, Joe Tippett, Marlow Barkley, Aimee Carrero, Andrea Anders, Jen Tullock and Rose Byrne. Directed by Sean Anders. A few lines of dialogue are spoken in Japanese and French without translation. [Running Time: 2:07]

Spirited SEX/NUDITY 3

 – A woman seems disheveled after meeting with a man and it is implied that they had sex. A man and a woman hug and kiss.
► A man and woman hold hands and flirt, and she describes him as smelling “musky.” A woman asks a man to smell another man’s hair and tell her what he smells like (he does so from a distance). Two men wakes up in bed together (both are clothed and no sex is implied); one asks the other to scratch his back and then to reach under his nightshirt to scratch him and the other man does so while making a face.
► A man sings about and we see an animation depicting a man and a woman hugging and kissing awkwardly; the man sings about “newfangled modern mouth kisses.” A woman says that it has been a while since anyone has “been up in my beeswax.” A woman says that a man “redeemed himself” (sex is implied). A man says that a priest had sex with another man’s wife. A woman says that a man is insanely hot and another person says, “Smokin’ hot” and a man says that the man in question has his hands all over everything and the first woman says, “I wish.” A woman hits a man on the back and says, “You’re into her,” about another woman. A man says, “I’m gonna screw it up,” when thinking about talking to a woman. A man asks, “Does someone clear out our search history after we die?” A man says that two people are dancing with sexually suggestive moves (we do not see this).
► A woman’s shirt is unbuttoned to reveal her partial bare chest (no details are evident). Dancers wear outfits that reveal cleavage, bare abdomens and legs to the upper thighs in a few scenes. Two shirtless men fight in a street (we see their bare chests, abdomens and backs). A man showers and we see his bare chest and abdomen and later we see his partial hip/buttock.

Spirited VIOLENCE/GORE 4

 – A man walks into a street in front of an oncoming bus, another man pushes him out of the way and crouches in front of the bus but is not struck; the man is later struck and thrown through the air and crashes into the back of a pickup truck (we understand he is dead). Many people grieve and walk through a memorial for a boy and it is implied that he committed suicide after an embarrassing picture was posted on social media. A man sees himself dying from a heart attack (he grabs his chest and gasps). Two men punch each other in the street while other people watch and cheer. A man slaps another man in the face a couple of times.
► A shrouded skeletal figure appears in several scenes and points at things to show people their future; one woman is shown kneeling and crying at a tombstone, pleading with the ghost saying that she will change and sinks into the ground screaming; she then reappears alive and at her home. A shrouded skeletal figure roars loudly at a man and lifts him up and throws him; the man bounces off a sofa and lands on the floor (no injuries are seen).
► A dying woman asks her brother to take care of her daughter and he declines. A woman chases her young daughter out of the house after she confronts her about lying to her younger brother. A young boy searches outside at night for a puppy that he thinks his mother got for him for Christmas. A girl posts a picture of a boy speaking disparagingly about homeless people to embarrass him and many people make insulting comments; he cries when he sees them.
► People fight in a street and we see some overturning a horse cart and yelling, and an explosion blows the wall of a building down. Objects in a man’s apartment magically levitate and bang around making bell ringing sounds, the lights go out, the city goes dark and a man with decayed facial flesh and bound in heavy chains roars at him and tells him that he will be visited by ghosts and that if he doesn’t change his ways he will end up like him; the man is flung up to the ceiling and he yells. A man is pulled into the distance and off-screen; he reappears in his bed and wakes startled. A man drops through a floor and slides down a twirling slide. A man slides down a flight of stairs and people in a large room panic saying, “We’ve got a breach.” Ghosts walk through people in a few scenes. A man bound by heavy chains is pulled through a glass table and the chains clink behind him and one heavy metal block hits a man in the face and knocks him down (we do not see any injuries). A man falls from a flying hot air balloon and we hear a splat and people think he is dead but he gets up and runs away. Two men fly through the air and one crashes to the ground (no injuries are shown). A man slams into a pole and recoils (no injury is seen). A man slams into a door. A man falls down a flight of stairs and we hear his head hit a pipe (he gets up and seems disoriented, but OK). A man pulls a taxi driver halfway out of the vehicle while yelling at him.
► A woman is knocked on the head by a ball and she exclaims but we see no injuries. People play a ballgame in a street and are nervous when the ball ends up in a woman’s yard; they apologize and ask her not to call the police (no confrontation occurs). People are taken on a tour through a place where we are told there are support ghosts that prepare details about people’s past, present and future.
► A man tells a woman to conduct opposition research to find something to discredit a 6th grade boy during a school representative campaign. A man tells another man (his brother) that he will put him over his knee. A man yells at another man when he wheels a garbage bin through the main lobby of a hotel. We hear that a man’s sister died from an illness and we see her in the hospital in a few scenes. A man says that something makes him want to push an old lady down the stairs. A man plans for two celebrities to feud to get them both publicity. A woman says, “I’m a terrible person,” after doing something for her boss. A woman hits a man on the back. A man confronts a man about having fabricated a scandal and ruining a woman’s life. A man is reprimanded for saying “good afternoon” to a boy asking for help for his family and it is explained that in the time period the phrase good afternoon was the same as “F-you.” A man accuses a boy of humblebragging. A man says, “I’m gonna screw it up,” when thinking about talking to a woman. People discuss whether it is possible for people to change in several scenes. A man tells a woman, “I was just avoiding you.” People joke about the afterlife being a musical. A woman says that she has a tramp stamp in the front and the back; she also says that she and her friends stole a cruise ship once. A man says that another man is having a “post haunt come down.”
► A man complains of the temperature of an ale and spits it out splattering some on the man seated next to him. A man comes through a door with a sign that reads, “Mens” (sic) and zips up his fly. A man sits on a tall, throne-like structure lined with a variety of food and another man describes it as a “giant toilet of food.” A man worries about how wet his armpits are while talking to a woman (we don’t see anything).

Spirited LANGUAGE 4

 – 3 not fully enunciated F-words and its derivatives, 1 obscene hand gesture, many people say and sing “good afternoon” repeatedly (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details), 6 sexual references, 11 scatological terms (3 not fully enunciated), 13 anatomical terms, 18 mild obscenities, name-calling (freshly dead, jerk, bloody, dingus, bum, cantankerous buffoon, down in the dumps, walking plunger, crazy busy, weird, goofy, preposterous, selfish, smarty-pants, idiot, new girl, monster, Colonel Sanders, unprofessional, abusive stingy self-centered, fool, scumbag, disgusting, fake, cancelled, outraged, pigheaded, desperate, judgmental hipster elite, self-loathing, gross, sick burn, ghost girl, self-absorbed, Scrooge, cosmic social worker, shame on you, snot-nosed elite, stone-cold-killer, ugly, stupid, guilt trip, nearly impossible, rat-bastard, fake, hot shot, sugar mouth, hateful human, dude, irrelevant, doozy, Karen, crazy, trolls, potty mouth, lazy, vile), exclamations (oh my gosh, full of it, whoa, blows, hold your horses, whatever, you’re killing me, shut-up, Bob’s your uncle, shut your dumb face, stiff upper lip, stop it, driving me nuts, big boy pants, easy-peasy, kiss my Dickens, suck it, not cool man, oh, ah nuts, wow, oh, geez, ew), 13 religious exclamations (e.g. God I miss drinking, oh my God, God, Holy bejeebus, Jesus, Holy [not fully enunciated scatological term deleted]). | profanity glossary |

Spirited SUBSTANCE USE

 – Song lyrics include a reference to being on Molly and a natural high. A woman (a ghost) says that she misses drinking, a man offers a child a Negroni, a man accuses his mother of being drunk, a woman is shown drinking in several scenes and it is implied that she is an alcoholic, people in a pub are shown holding and drinking from tankards of beer/ale, and people drink champagne at a meeting. A man smokes a cigar.

Spirited DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Making amends, changing, suicide, death from illness, redemption, retirement, kindness, disinformation, tradition, making a difference, dreams, second chances, authenticity, magic, sacrifice, consequences, rationalizing, new beginnings, life choices, humble, tactics, honor integrity, righting wrongs, truth, ghosts, betterment of mankind, dogma, death, fear, mistakes, decency, homelessness, selflessness, Mussolini, mortality, friendship, Ryan Seacrest, the American Dream, Charles Dickens, “A Christmas Carol.”

Spirited MESSAGE

 – Our choices make us who we are.