• Is it age appropriate?

  About our ratings

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  Not age appropriate for kids under 15, age appropriate for kids over 18; suggested age 15.

• Is it any good?

  4.0

• Common Sense says

  Keep children away from this scary classic.

Why We Rated This for Ages 15–18

What to watch out for

• Messages:

  There's a strong sense of overwhelming evil (masquerading as nice, ordinary NYC types) against which the waiflike heroine literally doesn't have a prayer in the end. Some have interpreted the movie as being anti-religion -- or pro-Satan -- but the novel's author, Ira Levin, claimed no belief in the devil whatsoever; he just wanted to scare. What's undeniable is the feminist-nightmare vulnerability and victimization of a pregnant young bride, by "society" (embodied by smiling but malevolent and controlling older folks), the medical establishment, and her own careerist husband.
• Role models :

  Rosemary is not herself "evil," but she has largely abandoned her Catholic faith, partially to marriage to a blasphemous non-Catholic actor, and comes across as pathetically weak and helpless against the black-magic conspiracy. She might be seen as giving up to the Satanists in the end. Actress Mia Farrow's skeletal frame could be an unhealthy body image for anorexia-prone young viewers, but it's faithful to the book, in which Rosemary's diabolical pregnancy makes her lose weight rather than gain. A camera-clicking Japanese character (again, right out of the book) reinforces a cultural stereotype.
• Violence:

  Blood on cars and pavement and a wide-eyed corpse, as the victim of a suicide jumps from an upper floor and is found in the street. Rosemary is physically restrained and injected. She brandishes a knife but ends up not using it. Themes of rape and satanic rituals.
• Sex:

  Talk of sex and having children, culminating in a dream/nightmare sequence in which Rosemary is drugged by her husband and raped by a barely-seen clawed monstrosity -- presumably Satan. Female back-side nudity and toplessness. Naked over-60 folks (only shown from the shoulders up, mostly) in an occult-ritual setting. Full male nudity, if you want to call it that, in the fresco of Michelangelo’s "Creation of Adam."
• Language:

  Guy berates Rosemary and her friends at several points. God and Jesus' name in vain, "hell" and "bitch."
• Consumerism:

  Mention of Yamaha motorcycles, the board game Scrabble, and Lipton tea.
• Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

  Social drinking and toasting, talk of inebriation (sometimes used as a cover excuse for evildoing). Cigarette-smoking is prominent. A marijuana joint is glimpsed at a party of young people (meant as a sort of counterpoint to the oldsters in the witch coven, and their stodgy cocktails and highballs). Sedative pills and injections are administered, and Rosemary is served the demonic equivalent of a date-rape drug.

What Parents Need to Know

About Rosemary's Baby

Families Can Talk About