White Boy Rick | 2018 | R | - 6.7.10

Why is "White Boy Rick" rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for "language throughout, drug content, violence, some sexual references, and brief nudity." The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes nudity and sexual situations, some violence and gore, extensive drug use and adult themes, and many F-words and other strong language. Read our parents' guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Set in the 1980s and based on the true story of a struggling single father (Matthew McConaughey) that turned to crime to support his family: When he faced federal charges, he agreed to allow the FBI to use his 15-year-old son (Richie Merritt) as a drug informant in exchange for leniency. However, the teen became enamored with the criminal lifestyle and evolved into a drug kingpin. Also with Bell Powley, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rory Cochrane, Jonathan Majors, Brian Henry, RJ Cyler, Bruce Dern and Piper Laurie. Directed by Yann Demange. [Running Time: 1:56]

White Boy Rick SEX/NUDITY 6

 - A married woman wearing a short dress reveals bare legs to the upper thighs and cleavage at the neckline; she asks a teen boy if he likes what he sees, sits next to him on a couch, kisses him for several seconds, and the couple lies down below the frame to end the scene (sex is implied). A teen girl and a teen boy kiss and lie down on a car hood below the frame (sex is implied) and months later we hear that the couple had a baby.
► A husband lies beside his wife in bed (he's clothed and she is wearing a sleeveless V-necked gown) and as police burst into the room and grab the couple, dragging them outside, we clearly see one of the woman's breasts when it falls out of her neckline. Many women wear bikinis around a pool and in a casino pool, where four of them twerk their buttocks toward the audience while a teen boy swims around them. Several women wear short-shorts that reveal bare legs to the upper thighs. A poster of a woman wearing a bikini is shown. Many men and boys are shown bare-chested in a pool scene.
► A teen girl wearing a T-shirt and skimpy underwear (we see her bare legs, abdomen and navel) straddles a clothed man's lap; she jumps up when her father storms into the room, screams and curses, and runs outside to unsuccessfully follow the man's car as he speeds off. Four teen boys in a car pick up two teen girls they know and two of the girls kiss two of the boys.
► A man tells a teen boy that he smells like a whorehouse on Christmas; the boy later smells his fingers and smiles (he had had sex with a woman). A 6-year-old girl pounds on a teen boy's door and shouts at him that it only takes once to make a baby, demanding that he come with her to see a new baby.

White Boy Rick VIOLENCE/GORE 7

 - Two men exit a parked car and shoot many rounds from AK-47s into a house where one of two boys inside is struck multiple times in the stomach, falls onto his back, and bleeds a pool of blood over his stomach, chest and onto the floor; we later hear a recording of the other boy calling 911 and begging for help and we hear that the victim died.
► A teen admits a friend into his house and the friend pulls out a pistol and shoots him in the stomach; he falls onto his back and we see blood pool over his chest, stomach, arms, and hands as he coughs and sobs, then lies still.
► We see a wounded and bloody teen boy in a hospital E.R. where doctors using bloody instruments and gauze remove bits of flesh, and we can see some blood from the point of view of a camera at the foot of the surgical table.
► A man at a club beats another man in the face repeatedly with a beer bottle and we see some blood as other men carry the beaten man off-screen (death is implied). A man slaps his teen son in the face hard.
► Several young teen boys in an abandoned building shoot handguns to kill rats and blood splashes all over one of the boy's shirts and he shouts (no blood is seen on the running rats). A teen girl and a teen boy run out of a diner, shooting handguns as they watch their car being stolen; police arrest them, put them on the ground, and we see the boy in police headquarters speaking with detectives (both teens are released).
► Three police detectives pick up a 14-year-old boy and ask him to infiltrate a drug ring; the boy pulls out a handgun and the detectives shout, take it away and then give it back. A man fires an assault rifle with a silencer into a trashcan below the frame and we hear popping. A teen boy's father says that he will kill the person who shot his son, and drives to the shooter's home and hides in his car with a handgun (he does not shoot).
► A teen boy always carries a handgun. A teen boy gambles illegally in a large casino and carries a gun in his pocket. A man points a handgun at his teenage son when he comes home late and then lowers it, cursing. A man and a teen boy carry handguns into a dark house but do not fire. Men and women at a gun show point rifles and handguns carelessly. A 14-year-old boy purchases two AK-47s at a gun show and then sells them. A man makes silencers for AK-47s for his teen son to sell. A man loads assault rifles into his car trunk in several scenes and sells them illegally in vacant lots a few times. A woman hides a handgun in an oven. A teen boy finds a handgun in basement rafters.
► Police burst into a home and grab a man, a teen girl, and a teen boy; they drag them outside where they release the girl and take the other two away as the man and boy shout. A drugged teen girl lies on a dirty mattress in a dark apartment and a man picks her up as she fights and screams; the teen girl while in withdrawal sweats and shouts and pounds the wall of her room and writhes for a few days. Police detectives give a teen boy a large pack of cocaine to sell (please see the Substance Use category for more details).
► A man and a teen boy driving in the snow skid off the road and the car crashes against a tree with a loud bang; they then limp out of the car but are uninjured.
► We see a TV report about 11 government officials and three drug kingpins that were arrested for dealing drugs and a teen boy is revealed as an FBI informant. A teenage boy is sentenced to life without parole for possession of drugs with intent to sell and an elderly man stands and shouts as the boy is taken away. A man shouts at a detective on a sidewalk and she walks away. A teen boy's grandfather shouts at the boy. Several scenes feature a man and his son shouting and cursing at each other. We see a teen boy in solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison and he cries when his sister and father visit, saying, "It's like I'm dead in here." We hear that the boy served almost 30 years and his father died three years before his son's release.
► A teen girl in withdrawal vomits some white material. A teen boy empties a colostomy bag into a toilet and we see yellow liquid; his father hands him a new bag and he lowers it to a long scar in his abdomen as the scene ends. A teen girl throws a china plate of food against a wall beside her father's head (he is unharmed); we see the food staining the wall.

White Boy Rick LANGUAGE 10

 - About 108 F-words and its derivatives, 36 scatological terms, 28 anatomical terms, 11 mild obscenities, 7 derogatory terms for African-Americans, name-calling (stupid, crazy, old man, boy, fat, lowlife, scumbags, punk, smart-face, junkie, loser, leper, Opie, white boy), 25 religious profanities (GD), 4 religious exclamations (e.g. My God, Christ, I Swear To God). | profanity glossary |

White Boy Rick SUBSTANCE USE

 - A 15-year-old boy becomes a drug informant and criminals lure him into dealing and manufacturing illegal drugs, a teen boy buys two small baggies of crack cocaine and gives them to detectives, three scenes include two teen boys dumping cocaine into a large dish and cooking it on a stove, teen boys break up crack cocaine into small baggies and sell it on the street, a teen boy gets license plates that read SNOW MAN, a drugged teen girl lies on a dirty mattress in a dark apartment and a man picks her up as she fights and screams, a teen girl in withdrawal sweats and shouts while pounding the wall of her room and writhing for a few days, a teen boy smokes a marijuana cigarette, and a woman snorts cocaine powder from her hand at home. Several men and women as well as teen boys and girls sip from short glasses of whisky and tall glasses of colorful cocktails in two clubs and a skating rink club, as well as a casino, many people including young teens drink champagne at a wedding, a young teen boy drinks a short glass of whiskey twice, several young teen boys in a skating rink club drink whiskey, a man at a bar drinks whiskey and another man drinks from a beer bottle, a man drinks from a beer bottle in his kitchen and on his porch, three men have beer bottles in front of them in a warehouse (they do not drink), and a large bottle of unknown liquor is shown untouched on a coffee table in a house. Two teen boys smoke cigarettes, a man smokes a cigarette in a club and in a car, and a woman smokes a cigarette at home.

White Boy Rick DISCUSSION TOPICS

 - 1980s Detroit, the Just Say No campaign, corrupt FBI and Detroit police detectives, parenting, unplanned pregnancy, teen drug use, teen pregnancy, family, conflict, reconciliation, poverty, money, power, lies, honesty, danger, death, loss, grief, hope.

White Boy Rick MESSAGE

 - Police corruption and drug dealing can destroy lives.