• Is it age appropriate?

  About our ratings

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  Not age appropriate for kids under 16, age appropriate for kids over 17; suggested age 16.

• Is it any good?

  2.0

• Common Sense says

  Intense, upsetting look inside an assassin's mind.

Why We Rated This for Ages 16–17

What to watch out for

• Messages:

  Chapman is increasingly disturbed, his anger and loneliness clear in his monologues. He plans to kill Lennon throughout the film and doesn't regret the murder when it happens.
• Violence:

  The film leads to Lennon's assassination, which it foreshadows repeatedly with images of guns, bullets, and jarring camera movements. A character repeats the phrase "bang bang" while forming a gun with his fingers, pointed at the camera. Chapman describes his father's abuse and at one point slams furniture in his room. Scenes from Raging Bull show boxing. Chapman imagines shooting a man through a wall, then bursting into the man's room and shooting him and his male lover (loud, close-up gunfire). Chapman buys a gun, practices aiming at people outside his window, and eventually takes it to shoot Lennon on the sidewalk (Yoko screams in the background, Lennon falls in slow motion, blood spurting). Chapman describes his suicidal thoughts to a doctor.
• Sex:

  Some brief cleavage shots. Chapman's mother flirts with a young man (she leans close and giggles). Two men kiss and embrace (Chapman listens in from the next room and becomes upset, calling them "homos").
• Language:

  Two uses of "f--k," plus a couple of "hells" and one "s--t."
• Consumerism:

  Not an issue.
• Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

  Chapman appears drunk -- he holds a bottle in a paper bag, and the images on screen get blurry to indicate his impaired vision.

What Parents Need to Know

About The Killing of John Lennon

Families Can Talk About