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The Science of Sleep

  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 15, age appropriate for kids over 16; suggested age 15.
  • Is it any good?

    3.0
  • Common Sense says

    Charming and strange, with lovely animated scenes.

Why We Rated This iffy for Ages 15–16

What to watch out for

  • Messages:

    This is an extremely internal, subjective tale that emphasizes the protagonist's childish desires: He wants to be loved and nurtured, but he behaves selfishly and naively.
  • Violence:

    Slapsticky and hallucinatory violence, including a piano carried on a stairway that falls onto the protagonist (causing a sprained arm); a bump on the head that produces blood; Stéphane's childlike calendar drawings depict disasters (plane explosion, earthquake); an antic "fight" with oversized hands.
  • Sex:

    The protagonist works in an office that produces "nudie" calendars (brief glimpse of a couple of photos, some cartoonish, imagined sexual activity involving office workers); he appears in bathtub, then naked as he puts on a robe (his bottom/back is shown briefly); office workers discuss sexual desire; reference to blow job.
  • Language:

    A couple of "f--k"s (in subtitles), plus other mild profanity ("merde," "a--hole") and jokey/disparaging use of "fags."
  • Consumerism:

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

    Some cigarette smoking and some social drinking.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About The Science of Sleep

Parents need to know that this arty French film consists mostly of fanciful/dream-like scenes that can seem nonsensical and lack a clear narrative drive. (In other words, kids won't be clamoring to see it.) There's some slapstick violence (falls and fisticuffs with enlarged hands), and Stéphane draws "disaster" images for the calendar company where he works (which also produces calendars featuring naked women). The movie includes brief shots of Stéphane naked in a bathtub and emerging to don a robe. But his desire for Stéphanie is rendered metaphorically, in dreamy images of heroic feats and horseback riding. Characters smoke cigarettes and drink at a party. Some profanity.

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Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about the nature of dreams. What do dreams "mean"? Is it possible to interpret them definitively? How do they convey unconscious or submerged desires and fears? Why don't we remember more of our dreams? How does Stéphane "act out" his anxieties in his dreams?

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Our Members Say

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Most Recent Reviews

  1. Teen Reviewer Age 16
    Lives in Arizona
    I rate this title iffy for age 2 and give it 4.0

    Science of Sleep

    Funny, touching, likeable, and just plain weird movie. I liked it quite a bit and would recommend it to people who like their movies artsy and creative.

  2. Adult Reviewer
    Lives in California
    I rate this title on for age 13 and give it 4.0

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