Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this Stephen King-inspired horror film features monsters (who proceed to rip up bodies), unseen threats, and bloody injuries and deaths. People use axes and guns against the monsters and also hurt each other (shooting, hitting, stabbing). There's intense suspense that could make younger kids very anxious, as well as several suicides -- and the final scene is especially upsetting. One scene shows cigarette smoking, and a few characters get visibly drunk. Language includes multiple uses of "f--k," plus other profanity.
Families can talk about how people respond to being scared. Why do you think the characters react the way they do? How do you think you'd react in a high-stress situation? And, speaking of being scared, why do you think people are drawn to scary movies? What's the appeal of being frightened in the theater? What's scarier -- threats you can see, or those you can't? Why?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Cynthia Fuchs
THE MIST begins with a conflict between neighbors in Castle Rock, Maine. Following a raucous storm, movie poster artist David (Thomas Jane) finds the lawyer who lives next door, Brent (Andre Braugher), muttering profanities and unable to start his chainsaw. The men share a troubled past involving property boundaries and lawsuits, so they're not inclined to help each other: still, they agree to head into town for supplies, bringing along David's 9-year-old son, Billy (Nathan Gamble).
At the store, they face more immediate danger, and their tenuous alliance breaks down. Dan (Jeffrey DeMunn) arrives bloody-nosed and stunned, announcing, "There's something in the mist!" The camera turns to show the scary, opaque wall rolling in. It brings monsters -- tentacled, big-jawed, and prone to ripping people apart -- as well as clunking metaphors. The erstwhile shoppers are afraid of what they can't see, so they begin to blame each other, looking for order in end-of-days pronouncements (courtesy of a local fundamentalist played by Marcia Gay Harden) or in secret experiments conducted at a nearby military base.
Confined to the store and literally blinded by the mist, the characters in Frank Darabont's movie spend a lot of time arguing, making plans, and worrying about what's happened to their homes and families. David reluctantly takes charge of one group of survivors, including plucky store manager Ollie (Toby Jones) and compassionate schoolteacher Amanda (Laurie Holden), but he's got his work cut out for him as more and more terrified individuals make bad choices and turn on one another.
The Mist's moral and physical geographies are familiar, if excessively literal. Divisions occur between inside and outside, good and deranged. David's choices at each moment are shaped by his belief in what he sees and his distrust of other people's rationalizations. He's the film's most reliable guide, showing how fear makes populations strangely obedient, willing to accept any explanation that exonerates them and blames someone else. Though The Mist indicts blind belief (and features a stunning ending that differs from Stephen King's source novella), it remains burdened by generic clichés.
Fans might prefer another movie about a murky menace -- The Fog -- or the similarly structured Signs. Or try more effective King adaptations, like Children of the Corn and especially The Shining.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentBrief cleavage shot. Brief kissing between designated cute young couple, in close-up. |
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ViolenceLots of bloody violence, most committed by monsters against humans (the reptilian, buggy, dinosaur-like baddies are fond of ripping victims' guts out and faces off). Man with bloody face describes scary encounter, causing a young boy to cry and go into shock. Several scenes show parents holding frightened children. Young man is dragged out a door, screaming and fearful, bloodied and wounded during the process. Man on fire later appears badly burned. Man is cut in half, his bloody legs and entrails left behind. Monster spiders wrap victims in webs; one body breaks open to let loose cascades of creepy baby spiders. Man stabs another repeatedly. Suicide victims (hanging). Woman urges crowd to deliver a horrified victim to the monsters. Woman bitten by a giant bug swells up horrifically before she dies. Weapons wielded by humans -- against each other and the monsters -- include axe, gun, and fire (torches and aerosol can). A couple of alarming shooting scenes resulting in bloody injuries, splatter, and upsetting deaths. |
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LanguageIncludes several uses of "f--k" (some with "mother"), lots of "s--t"s and fewer instances of "ass," "hell," "bitch" (with "son of a"), and anatomically inspired expletives ("c--ksucker," "p---y"). |
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Social BehaviorCharacters have a range of responses to the mist/monsters, including nobility, selfishness, fear, and courageousness. Teachers and parents are brave, a militantly religious woman rouses the crowd to blame and attack others. |
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CommercialismAssorted products visible in the grocery store, including Budweiser beer and Snyder's pretzels, as well as generic cans and paper. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoSoldier smokes a cigarette, indicating his worry. Addled mechanics drink beer and get visibly drunk. |
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