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The Violent Heart | 2020 | NR | – 4.5.5
Why is “The Violent Heart” rated NR? The MPAA has not rated this film. The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes an implied sex scene, a few kissing scenes, implied infidelity and unplanned pregnancy, a few murders by gunshot and strangulation with bloody wounds shown, arguments with some shoving, and about 6 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.
A high school senior (Grace Van Patten) strikes up a relationship with a young man (Jovan Adepo) who’s still struggling to overcome the loss of his sister, murdered when he was young, as well as his time in prison for a violent crime. Also with Lukas Haas, Mary J. Blige, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Jahi Di’Allo Winston, Jordan Preston Carter, Cress Williams and Rayven Symone Ferrell. Directed by Kerem Sanga. [Running Time: 1:47]
The Violent Heart SEX/NUDITY 4
– A young man and a teen girl kiss, he takes off his shirt (we see his bare shoulders and back), they kiss and hug and (we see her bare shoulders and back) and we see them in bed the next morning (sex is implied and bare shoulders and backs are seen again). A teen girl tries to open a classroom door and it is blocked by a desk; when her father opens it from inside, we see a woman adjusting her sweater and the teen suspects they are having an affair.
► A young man and a teen girl kiss and ride away on a motorcycle, as her father watches and becomes upset. A young man and a teen girl hug and kiss in a car. A young woman and a man hug and kiss in the woods at night.
► A man admits to having an affair with a young woman. A man tells a young man, “I didn’t know she was your girl.”
► A teen girl wears a low-cut top that reveals cleavage in several scenes. A young man changes his shirt in a locker room in a couple of scenes and we see his bare shoulders and back. Young women wear formal gowns that reveal cleavage, bare backs and partial bare legs at a party before a formal dance.
The Violent Heart VIOLENCE/GORE 5
– A young woman sneaks out of her house carrying a suitcase at night and her young brother follows her when she gets into a waiting car and drives away; the boy speeds on his motorbike on a road and stops when he sees the car pulled over on the side; he hears laughing, sees the young woman with a man, hears two gunshots and runs to find her, and trips over the young woman lying on the ground with bloody gunshot wounds. A man and a young man fight: the young man grabs the man by the throat and the man hits him in the head with a glass, they tussle, one throws the other on the floor and strangles him to death while a teen girl screams in the background and the attacker is shot in the chest (we see blood as he dies). A young man has flashbacks to the night his sister was murdered and we see her with bloody wounds and hear a doctor telling her mother that she died at the hospital.
► A teen boy asks another teen boy, “Is that why your dad did what he did? Because you are so annoying?” and the second teen grabs the first and throws him to the floor. A man grabs a young man’s shoulder as he walks out of a bar and the young man swings around, shoves him and nearly punches him. A man punches a wall and yells at his teen daughter when she walks away from him during an argument. A young man punches his car a few times in frustration. A teen boy flicks the ear of another teen boy and the second boy yells at him as he walks away. A man opens a locked box and we see a gun in it.
► A man and a woman talk to their teen daughter about a young man she is seeing, saying, “He is not a good person,” and, “He is a violent criminal.” A young man is declined a waiver by the Marines after he spent time in prison for a violent crime. A young man yells at a young woman about his situation. A typed letter reads, “Why did you kill her?” and a man breathes nervously when he reads it. A young man describes punching someone so hard that he blinded him in one eye. We hear that a young man has a felony conviction for assault and that he spent time in prison. A teenage boy tells his mother that he wants to visit the grave of his older sister; we see him, his mother and his older brother at the grave. We understand that a man is serving in the Marines and is stationed in Afghanistan. We hear that a teen boy’s father is dead (it’s not clear if it was suicide).
The Violent Heart LANGUAGE 5
– About 6 F-words, 1 obscene hand gesture, 1 sexual reference, 12 scatological terms, 1 anatomical term, 2 mild obscenities, name-calling (garbage, chatter box, puerile, devastating, uncool, that boy, that girl, stupid, out of your mind, tricky, fricking annoying, slut, embarrassing, moody, ridiculous), exclamations (stop it, fair enough, ew, shut-up, relax, what is your problem), 10 religious exclamations (e.g. Oh My God, Oh God, My God). | profanity glossary |
The Violent Heart SUBSTANCE USE
– A man vapes from an e-cigarette and a teen girl talks about people smoking and playing video games before a formal dance.
The Violent Heart DISCUSSION TOPICS
– Murder, assault, infidelity, forgiveness, hypocrisy.
The Violent Heart MESSAGE
– Lies and misdeeds are hard to escape.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
Gladiator II - 2.7.2
Wicked: Part I - 3.4.2
Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. - 1.5.3
Emilia Pérez - 6.6.7
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