All the people I know that don't like this movie said that they didn't like it because they didn't get it. My advice is to turn on the subtitles in the movie because information comes at you very quickly and if you miss anything, the experience will be ruined. If you do understand it fully, however, you'll enjoy an emotion-filled tale of a people's rebellion over a dictatorship all led by two incredible characters.
Tools for this page
V for Vendetta
-
Is it age appropriate?
About our ratings(Flash is loading. If this text does not disappear you need to install the latest flash version)
Not age appropriate for kids under 16, age appropriate for kids over 17; suggested age 16. -
Is it any good?
-
Common Sense says
Complex but heavy-handed action film. Adults only.
updated 07.04.08
Why We Rated This 
for Ages 16–17
What to watch out for
-
Violence :
-
Sex :
-
Language:
-
Consumerism:
-
Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
What Parents Need to Know
About V for Vendetta
Parents need to know that this film includes recurring and explicit violence, including explosions, martial arts fights, knifings (with bloody results quite visible), shootings, and torture inside prison cells (where one character shares her space with a rat). The film opens with a flashback to a 1605 hanging, and then, in the present, an imminent rape (stopped by V's violent intervention). The film includes scenes of war and police state tactics, including the brutal incarceration of race and sexual minorities in Britain. A young girl sees her mother kidnapped by government flunkies, then witnesses a similar brutality as an adult. When a bishop arranges for sex with an underage girl (apparently a regular practice), he's killed as punishment (but not before he pushes his would-be girl victim onto his bed). Characters curse occasionally (infrequent use of the f-word, plus "bloody hell," "bitch," and the s-word).
Read our full review by Cynthia Fuchs
Families Can Talk About
- Families can talk about the film's presentation of terrorism as reasonable response to state oppression. Is violence ever an appropriate response? How do the evil chancellor's raging and V's tragic background (abused and institutionalized as a child) make V's cause seem sympathetic, even if it's illegal and aggressive? How does Evey's own childhood loss of her parents make her ready to be V's protégé? For fans of the book, families can discuss the differences between the film and its inspiration.
Want more? Get Common Sense recommendations delivered to your inbox.
You are now subscribed to the Common Sense weekly newsletter!
To write reviews and create a public profile, complete your account set-up here.
Our Members Say
See all 34 member reviews
Most Recent Reviews
Lives in IllinoisI rate this title iffy for age 15 and give itMy concerns are:- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
Absolutely Fantastic!
- Lives in FloridaI rate this title on for age 16 and give itMy concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate language
- Lives in WashingtonI rate this title on for age 12 and give itMy concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
good movie, why R???
i think that this movie isn't that bad and shouldn't be rated R I know that it's violent but not realistic.
- Lives in CaliforniaI rate this title iffy for age 14 and give it
If you gave the Phantom of the Opera six swords and 007-style fighting moves, and put him into George Orwell's 1984, you might get something like this movie. It's 2020,and the English government has taken total control. No one dares to do anything except for V, a masked man tortured by the government. On Guy Fawkes Night he plans to change England, but this goes awry when he rescues Evey Hammond, who he then adopts. I really liked this movie. It isn't appropriate for everyone, but Commonsense does exaggerate. The message is not, as Commonsense puts it, to extol terrorism. When the government goes as far as this, it is better for the people to attempt to change it than for them to be tortured and executed for holding a copy of the Koran. It is violent,however. V cuts a couple of throats, several people are shot, the government clubs people and takes them to torture camps, and the bodies of several people are found. There isn’t too much sex – some kissing, and Evey is nearly raped twice, rescued both times by V. I highly recommend this movie, but parents should watch it either with or before their kids do.
- I rate this title iffy for age 13 and give it
this is not a kids movie but not why you think
so many reviews lose the message of the moviebut the real fact is the movie does have violence and sex but the thing is the movie message is more about how ideas never die and we deserve our rights i think violence solves nothing permently but some times you have to change it with violence for peace to even have a chance existing this movie is deep and thought provoking that raises many moral points like what would you do for peace by what means all parents like me should watch this movie and figure out if your kid will see it for more then just another movie with knives but for the message it holds
Give Recommendations, Get Them, Too!
Become a member and get recommendations from other parents based on your child's age.
Already a member? Log in
Our Members Rate It
Ratings at a Glance
| 100% | of parents don't think the messages are positive |
| 100% | of parents say the sexual behavior isn't age appropriate |
| 100% | of parents say it's too violent |
Have You Seen it? 
For Your Family
Get age-based recommendations for your kids:
Customize based on your child's age
dubars recommends:
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
for kids age 9
See more from dubars
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
for kids age 9
See more from dubars
