Velvet Buzzsaw | 2019 | R | – 6.7.7

Why is “Velvet Buzzsaw” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “violence, language, some sexuality/nudity and brief drug use.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a few sex scenes that include nudity, a couple of implied sex scenes, several brutal deaths (some shown and some implied) with bloody results and under mysterious circumstances, and at least 27 F-words. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.”

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Horror thriller about the world of high-priced art: When unusual artworks are discovered in a dead man’s apartment, an art dealer (Rene Russo) and her assistant (Zawe Ashton) decide to steal it all and sell it despite the artist’s explicit instructions to destroy everything. A prominent art critic (Jake Gyllenhaal) tries to warn them when strange supernatural occurrences begin happening and people begin dying. Also with Tom Sturridge, Toni Collette, Natalia Dyer, Daveed Diggs, John Malkovich and Billy Magnussen. Directed by Dan Gilroy. [Running Time: 1:53]

Velvet Buzzsaw SEX/NUDITY 6

 – A man and a woman have sex and the woman asks if he has taken Viagra; we see the man thrusting on top of the woman (his bare back, buttocks and legs are seen), they both moan and the man stops abruptly and sits on the edge of the bed as if he saw something (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). A man and a woman kiss and moan while standing against a wall (sex is implied). A woman seated on a sofa places a man’s hand between her legs and sex is implied. A woman straddles a seated man, kisses him and is offended when he says he has to leave.
► A man kisses a woman on the forehead. A man kisses two women on the cheeks in greeting.
► A woman asks a man if she makes him aroused. A woman accuses a man of being upset when she rebuffed his advances. A man talks about his relationship with another man. A woman describes an art piece as being sexual in nature and that the viewer can feel a variety of emotions based on “what hole they explore” (it’s a large metallic sphere and there are openings that people can reach into). A woman receives a phone call telling her that her boyfriend is cheating on her and the person on the phone describes that “They were all over each other.” A man asks if someone is sleeping with someone else. A man ogles a woman that has come to his office to apply for a job.
► A man with a towel wrapped around his waist walks away from the camera, drops the towel to reveal his bare back and buttocks and dives into a pool (we see his bare chest, and an extremely brief possible glimpse of genitals). A nude man sits on a chaise with a laptop computer covering his genitals (we see his bare chest, abdomen and legs). A woman showers and we see her bare shoulders. Opening credits include a rendering of a nude female form (breasts and a glimpse of nipples and bare back are seen). Women wear low-cut dresses and tops that reveal cleavage in several scenes throughout the movie. A woman wears a short dress that reveals bare legs to the mid thighs. A shirtless man is shown (we see his bare chest, abdomen and back). Women wear low-cut dresses that reveal cleavage at a gallery showing. A woman wears a slinky, short nightgown that reveals cleavage and bare legs to the upper thighs. A man is shown shirtless in a woman’s apartment and we see his bare chest and abdomen. A woman wears an off-the-shoulder dress that reveals her bare shoulder and partial bare back.

Velvet Buzzsaw VIOLENCE/GORE 7

 – A woman reaches into an opening in an art piece (a huge metallic sphere), she feels a tug and then another and she screams as blood sprays out of several other holes in the piece, she pulls her arm free and we see that the arm is missing from just below the shoulder and the bloody stump has torn flesh; we see the woman later in large pools of blood and hear that she bled to death, and that next day people thought she was part of the exhibit and that children walked through the blood and made bloody shoeprints all around the floor.
► A man tries to turn off a projector and even after it is unplugged it continues to run; the man stands on a table in the room to tighten a light bulb in a fixture and a hand reaches out from the rafters to gab his scarf and we see the man flailing and hear him yelling; we see the man dead later with blood trickling from his eyes and the woman that finds him screams and drops cups of coffee on the floor.
► A man smokes a cigarette while driving a car, embers fall on his lap and ignite his clothing (we see him in flames), he swerves the car on the road and slams into a pole in a gas station where flames erupt outside the car; we see the man’s charred skin after he pulls off his shirt and when he enters a building and splashes water on his chest, monkeys in a painting above the sink reach out and grab his head and shoulders (we hear the man scream and he is not seen again).
► A decrepit robot uses two crutches to block a man from moving away, then chases the man through hallways and pins him against a metal fence where it holds the man’s face (cutting into his skin with its metal fingers) and breaking his neck (we hear a crack). Paint streams off paintings hanging on walls in a gallery and flows toward a woman standing in the room; the paint works its way up her legs and fully engulfs her and we see the colors seeping into her eyes as she screams and tries to wipe it off with no effect (we see her image in a wall of graffiti later). A tattoo of a saw blade on a woman’s shoulder spins and blood sprays as she screams (the scene ends and we assume she is dead). A man lies motionless on the floor and his cane is shown on the ground several floors below (he is dead). A large metal sculpture falls over and nearly crushes a woman.
► A man locked in a room alone hears voices reading negative reviews he has written and he panics and falls to his knees until another man enters the room and tells him that there had been no sound. A hand from a painting reaches out toward a man who is having sex with a woman and he jumps back (please see the Sex/Nudity category for more details). A face on a painting turns to look at a man before he crashes his car. The eyes of a man painted on a canvas change position to look at a woman. A woman is startled by a cat jumping onto a table. A painting shows several people entwined and struggling with each other. A painting shows the face of a child screaming in fear. Opening credits include a rendering of a man hanging from a noose. A man yells when he slams his hand on a piece of machinery that he is trying to work on. A man imagines the image of a woman (now dead) with her arm partially missing on the side of a bus as it passes him.
► A woman threatens another woman over a business relationship. A woman berates another woman and demotes her for her “chronic lateness.” A character says, “I want to hurt him.” A woman receives a phone call telling her that her boyfriend is cheating on her; she becomes visibly upset. A man and a woman argue in several scenes. We hear about a house fire that a boy and his abusive father survived, but other family members died. We hear that a boy was placed in an orphanage after being taken from his abusive father. People talk about a man’s “personal demons.” We hear that a man was in an accident and is in a coma. We hear that someone “wound up dead in a field.” We hear that a man murdered his father and tortured him by burning him alive. We hear that medical experiments were performed on patients in a psychiatric facility. A woman says, “Over my dead body” (nothing happens to her). A man yells at a woman after finding another man in her apartment. We hear that a man wrote a negative review about another man’s work and that the artist killed himself. A character says, “I’m pouring gas on myself and lighting a match.”
► A trickle of blood runs from the eye of a face painted on a canvas. A woman says that an artist used blood and tissue to paint. A woman is shown with a tattoo of a saw blade on her shoulder. An art piece is titled “Hoboman” and it is a robotic man with a face place missing parts to reveal circuitry.
► A dog growls at a man briefly. We see several canvases partially burned in a fireplace and embers re-ignite in one scene.

Velvet Buzzsaw LANGUAGE 7

 – About 27 F-words, 1 obscene hand gesture, 4 sexual references, 11 scatological terms, 1 anatomical term in German with no translation, 12 mild obscenities, name-calling (ridiculous, busy beavers, easy-peasy, pussycat, anarchist, hack, mad, cheesy, failure, strange, poser, liar, heinous, vile, no credibility, shallow, slaughterhouse, unbelievable, idiot, impatient, flat out creepy), 5 religious profanities (GD), 14 religious exclamations (e.g. Oh My God, I Swear To God, God, My God, You Are God, Jesus). | profanity glossary |

Velvet Buzzsaw SUBSTANCE USE

 – A woman smokes what she identifies as “hash oil” in the back seat of a car and shares with a man who also smokes. People hold glasses of champagne at an art gallery and a couple of people are shown sipping from their glasses, a man and a woman drink shots of a clear liquor, a woman guzzles a glass of wine, a man drinks a glass of liquor at a gallery showing, a man says that he never should have quit drinking, a woman holds a glass of wine, a man says that he started drinking again, a man and a woman drink champagne, people in a bar scene drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes, woman drinks a glass of wine, and a woman makes a comment about “booze and pills.” A woman smokes a cigarette, a rendering of a woman smoking a cigarette is shown with opening credits, a man smokes a cigarette in a car (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details), and a man vapes in a few scenes.

Velvet Buzzsaw DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Contemporary art, art critics, art trading, commercialism, consciousness, relationships, fame, perception, reality, regret, addiction triggers, alcoholism, alcoholism, obsession, greed, competition, loyalty, betrayal.

Velvet Buzzsaw MESSAGE

 – All art is dangerous and some downright deadly.