The Traitor | 2019 | R | – 7.7.5

Why is “The Traitor” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “violence, sexual content, language and brief graphic nudity.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes several sex scenes with nudity, a couple of scenes with male non-sexual full frontal nudity, and several scenes with women wearing cleavage revealing outfits; many scenes of shootings with bloody wounds and death, an arm being severed with bloody results, many beatings with bloody wounds and bruising shown, arguments in a courtroom, and discussions of the heroin trade; and at least 5 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.”

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Biopic based on the life of Tommaso Buscetta (Pierfrancesco Favino), the first highly placed mafia member to become a government informant in the late 1980s. His testimony led to a 7-year trial by prosecuting magistrate Giovanni Falcone (Fausto Russo Alesi) and the eventual downfall of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra. Also with Luigi Lo Cascio, Maria Fernanda Cândido, Fabrizio Ferracane, Nicola Calì, Giovanni Calcagno, Bruno Cariello and Bebo Storti. Directed by Marco Bellocchio. In Italian and Sicilian with English subtitles. [Running Time: 2:25]

The Traitor SEX/NUDITY 7

 – A woman arrives in a prison dorm and a man tells her to undress (we see her nude with bare breasts, abdomen, buttocks and legs visible); the man also undresses (we see his bare back, buttock and legs) and he thrusts on top of her in a bed. A man and a woman have sex and we see his bare buttocks and back, as well as the woman’s bare breasts and abdomen (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A husband and his wife have sex and we see the man thrusting (we see his bare buttocks and back).
► A husband and his wife kiss in several scenes. Men and women dance together at a celebration. A man kisses a woman’s hand in greeting. Two men hug.
► A man in a prison cell yells at a surveillance camera as he pulls off all of his clothing (we see him fully nude with his bare chest, abdomen, legs and genitals visible) in a couple of scenes. Men and women wear swimsuits while swimming at a beach (we see bare chests, abdomens, backs and legs on the men and cleavage, abdomens, backs and legs on the women). Several women wear cleavage-revealing evening gowns. A woman’s dress reveals her bare back and cleavage. A man in a tailor’s shop is shown not wearing pants (we see his bare legs to the upper thighs). A man grabs his clothed crotch while yelling insults at another man.

The Traitor VIOLENCE/GORE 7

 – A man’s arm is cut off at the elbow by a man with a machete and the injured man is then shot (we see the severed arm with blood, as well as blood on the bullet wound). A man driving in a car is shot repeatedly by someone in another car and we see blood spray on the windshield; we see the funeral later. A man having sex with a woman in a bed is shot several times by two men and the woman rolls off the bed to the floor (some blood is seen on his back; we don’t see if the woman was shot). Men with guns chase a man in a church and shoot him. Two men are shot dead in a warehouse and blood sprays.
► A car drives over a bridge and an explosion throws it off the bridge and we see the people in the car as they are jostled around; we understand that the people in the car were killed and we see the car partially buried under rubble later. A man in a car is shot at by someone on a motorcycle; the man in the car shoots the motorcyclist off his bike, and is then shot at getting out of the car and he runs while a gunman chases and continues shooting at him. A man shoots another man twice (we see bloody bullet wounds).
► Two men beat two other men and question them before strangling them to death (we see the beaten men with bloody faces and hear them gasp and struggle while being strangled). A man with a bloody and bruised face in a helicopter is held with a gun to his head while he is forced to watch as another helicopter flying nearby contains a man holding the first man’s daughter out of the open door threatening to drop her into the ocean below. A man is tied into a chair and beaten while being questioned and we see his very bloody and bruised face. A woman bites another woman’s earlobe during a funeral procession (we see some blood). A man in a cell in a courtroom sews his own lips shut (we see blood and threads and blood on his hands). A man in a cell in a courtroom has a seizure and thrashes around yelling. A man slaps his adult son several times while berating him (the younger man seems inebriated or under the influence of drugs). A man has convulsions and foams at the mouth (it’s an apparent poisoning). A man is placed in a coffin and the lid is placed on it as he pounds on it to be let out (it is a nightmare/hallucination).
► Armed police shoot a man’s door open and move through the house before taking the man away. Armed men patrol a man’s property. Members of two groups of men are shown wearing guns in holsters or tucked into their pants when they meet to discuss the handling of illegal drug operations; the atmosphere is tense. People march in protest in streets carrying signs that defend the mafia and that they provide the people with jobs. Two men are pulled out of a car and arrested.
► A man talks about the murder of another man’s two sons. Several women in a balcony seating area in a courtroom yell in protest during a hearing. Men in cells in a courtroom yell in several scenes and the magistrate yells at them to keep quiet. Men talk about killing other men. A woman cries over the phone saying that a man’s two sons are “gone.” A man grabs his clothed crotch while yelling insults at another man. A man says, “We’ll kill them one by one.” A man walks across a prison dorm to find another man in a bed motionless; he is dead and the man covers him with a sheet. A man says of another man, “He should kill himself.” A man in a cell in a courtroom smokes a cigar and argues with a magistrate about needing to smoke even though it is forbidden in the courtroom. A man talks about having been ordered to kill another man. A man talks about men killing someone. A man says, “They even kill babies.”
► Many rats are shown skittering through dark passageways in a couple of scenes. A tiger is shown pacing in a cage and children watch it and press against the metal caging.

The Traitor LANGUAGE 5

 – About 5 F-words, 5 scatological terms, 1 anatomical term, 3 mild obscenities, name-calling (fool, jerk, filthy, spy, rat, garbage, cuckold, Judas, madhouse, lunatic, filth, traitor, liar, bigshot, useless, crazy, scoundrel, hypocrite, swindler, snitch, bastard), exclamations (shut-up), 4 religious exclamations (e.g. God, God Is Grand, Thank God, God Almighty). | profanity glossary |

The Traitor SUBSTANCE USE

 – There are several discussions of heroin trafficking and the involvement of organized crime, and we hear that a man ingested strychnine. People are shown drinking champagne and other alcohol at a celebration, and a man seems inebriated. A man smokes cigarettes in many scenes throughout the movie in indoor and outdoor settings, a woman smokes a cigarette on a veranda and a man takes the cigarette to smoke it himself, and a man smokes a cigar.

The Traitor DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Organized crime, the Mafia, Cosa Nostra, family, influence, murder, peace, fear, glory, AIDS, attempted suicide, morality, betrayal, cancer, values, extradition, kamikazes, justice system.

The Traitor MESSAGE

 – The Sicilian mafia was responsible for many brutal murders and it took a lot of effort and sacrifice to prosecute its members.