The Union | 2024 | PG-13 | – 3.5.5

Why is “The Union” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “sequences of strong violence, suggestive material and some strong language.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a few implied sex scenes, discussions of sexual relationships including one between a man and his former teacher, partial non-sexual nudity, several people being shot and killed without visible blood, a man being shot and falling off a bridge into water, several car and motorcycle chases with crashes, a building exploding, a car exploding with the driver inside, discussions of espionage, and at least 2 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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A NJ working-class man (Mark Wahlberg) is abruptly recruited into a clandestine government organization called The Union by his former high-school girlfriend (Halle Berry), who’s now a secret agent, since they need a new recruit to figure out why experienced agents keep getting assassinated. Also with J.K. Simmons, Mike Colter, Alice Lee, Jessica De Gouw, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jackie Earle Haley and Lucy Cork. Directed by Julian Farino. [Running Time: 1:47]

The Union SEX/NUDITY 3

 – A woman wearing a low-cut top that reveals cleavage wakes a man in bed (he is shirtless and gets out of bed wearing boxer briefs that reveal his bare chest, abdomen, back and legs to the thighs), they talk standing close to each other and the man tries to kiss the woman (sex the night before is implied); we hear later that the woman was a man’s high school teacher.
► A man and a woman flirt and talk about finding a janitor’s closet together (sex is implied); they are interrupted before finding the closet. A man wearing boxer briefs (we see his bare chest, abdomen, back and partial legs) gets into bed with a woman wearing a low-cut T-shirt (cleavage is visible) and they talk; he remarks that he is not trying to seduce her and she says the same thing before rolling over to sleep. A man and a woman embrace and dance (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A woman confronts a man about having sex with their former high-school teacher.
► A woman wears low-cut tops and dresses that reveal cleavage in several scenes.

The Union VIOLENCE/GORE 5

 – Several armed individuals move through a hotel and into a man’s room, handcuff him, place a bag over his head and lead him out of the building; a vehicle waiting outside explodes with the driver inside and the others scramble out a different exit, when they are each shot and fall dead and one person is shot and falls over a bridge into water.
► Several armed individuals enter a house, a woman snaps a man’s neck, a man is stabbed in the neck, and three more men are shot and killed (no blood is seen) and a man throws a brick at another man knocking him into an empty swimming pool where he lies motionless. A man on foot is chased by a man in a car through a café (tables are thrown and people scatter), the man jumps on the hood of the car, is slammed into the trunk of another car that closes on him and he is unable to get out. A woman is found dead in a surveillance van and a man tries briefly to revive her. A woman shoots a man and he falls off a pier. A woman shoots a man in a café and threatens to shoot another man; the man kicks her and runs away.
► Two cars speed on narrow roads and bump into each other a few times, another car joins after its driver side door is ripped off, they speed and a man climbs out of the trunk of one car and fights with the driver before the car spins out and the driver is thrown on the ground (the other man in the car kicks him in the stomach and speeds away); the three cars continue to speed around tight turns and one car drives off the road and we see wreckage with no sign of the driver (he’s OK later with a bloody scratch on his head). A car crashes into a man and throws him.
► A man and a woman are surrounded by helicopters and cars on a bridge and they jump onto a barge passing below. Three men standing on narrow beams between two buildings fight over a case; one man is kicked off one beam and another is shot and falls. A man takes a case filled with money to a drop point and ends up in a bathroom exchanging the money with another man (we hear someone moaning in a stall); a woman runs on a rooftop and jumps onto a van driving on a road below and when it is discovered that the man is in danger she opens fire on people that shoot back at her (several people are struck and fall without evident blood). A man speeds on a motorcycle chased by two other motorcycles through alleys and narrow roadways until two of the riders are struck by a truck. A man speeds on a motorcycle chased by two others through narrow alleys and two of the riders crash into walls as the third climbs on cross beams and up to a roof while being shot at. A woman kicks a man and they fight, they crash through a glass roof and onto a counter where the woman wraps a faucet hose around the man’s neck choking him until another woman enters and the two women fight: one woman is stabbed in the leg with a knife and one woman is slammed onto the floor breaking her neck. A woman jumps from terraces and shoots people as she goes; a man holds the woman around the neck with a gun to her head. A tall building explodes in the distance. A man and a woman hide in an airline container and are locked inside and loaded onto a plane. A man steals a car in a few scenes.
► A man pushes another man and they tussle and the man is thrown over a table when he tries to charge the other man (no injuries are evident). A man and woman embrace and dance until the woman injects the man in the neck with a tranquilizer; the man collapses and tumbles down a hill where he is wrapped in a tarp and taken away by two men. A man and woman speed on a motorcycle in a few scenes. A woman slaps a man in the face twice during a psychological evaluation. A man drives a car on the wrong side of the road causing other cars to swerve and honk. A man during field training takes target practice, drives through an obstacle course at high speed and runs on a tall building while blindfolded.
► A man describes another man having a hole in his face after being shot. A woman describes hitting someone in the face and breaking his jaw after he sexually assaulted a friend of hers. A man and a woman argue about their parents not liking them when they were dating and the woman calls the man’s father a “grand wizard of the KKK.” A man says that he has a “vomit stained tuxedo” when teasing a woman about not being able to hold her liquor. A man and a woman playfully bicker about hogging blankets and snoring.

The Union LANGUAGE 5

 – About 2 F-words, 40 scatological terms, 19 anatomical terms, 10 mild obscenities, name-calling (crazy, dumb, blue blood, nobody, tough guy, fool, weirdo, silly, sweetie, baby, old-fashioned, reckless, mistake, messy, old man, small little life), exclamations (totally busted, boom, wow, yes queen), 7 religious profanities (GD), 17 religious exclamations (e.g. oh my God, God, oh God, Jesus, Christ, for God’s sake, God bless you, Holy [scatological term deleted]). | profanity glossary |

The Union SUBSTANCE USE

 – A woman injects a man in the neck with a tranquilizer. People drink at a bar and a man orders a pitcher of beer, a woman orders two shots of liquor at a bar, people drink liquor and beer in a bar, people drink glasses of wine in a café, and a man teases a woman about not being able to hold her liquor.

The Union DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – The CIA, secret agencies, North Korea, stolen intelligence, trust, relationships, seeking out adventure, black ops, mercenaries, potential.

The Union MESSAGE

 – People with street smarts and accustomed to labor can be better spies than individuals with advanced college degrees.