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The Burning Plain

  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 16, age appropriate for kids over 18; suggested age 17.

  • Is it any good?

    3.0

  • Common Sense says

    Poignant story of infidelity, loss, remorse; not for kids.

Themes in this movie include:   family relationships, growing up, honesty, loss

Why We Rated This iffy for Ages 17–18

The good stuff

  • Messages:

    Characters make plenty of iffy decisions with painful consequences, but the movie ultimately sends the message that redemption is possible against even great odds. Taking responsibility for behavior is seen as necessary and important, and wrongdoers pay dearly for their mistakes. The effect of parents' behavior (good and bad) upon their children is closely observed.

 

What to watch out for

  • Role models :

    Although some children with strong moral centers are able to overcome adversity and a central character comes to terms with her past and faces those she has hurt, characters also commit adultery, hurt themselves and others, and behave in very complicated ways.

  • Violence:

    Two people are killed in a violent explosion/fire in a trailer -- this event is shown multiple times. A woman engages in self-mutilation by carving into her leg; teens burn their arms with a lighter in mutual "scarring" pact; a father slaps his teen daughter across the face; a crop dusting plane crashes as the young daughter of the pilot watches; two birds are killed with slingshots.

  • Sex:

    Many scenes with lots of sexual activity, nudity, and implied sexual intercourse -- including scenes of females undressing and being undressed, bare backs, buttocks, breasts, full nudity in shadows, sexual foreplay, and shots of implied intercourse in a variety of positions. Teens are seen kissing, starting to undress, embracing, beginning foreplay, and, finally, post-intercourse with bare shoulders visible.

  • Language:

    Swearing and harsh language in several scenes, including: "f--k" (in many forms), "slut," "bitch," "hell," "son of a bitch," "Jesus Christ," and "bulls--t." There's also one scene with racial slurs, including "wetback" and jeering use of "Mexican."

  • Consumerism:

    Not an issue.

  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    Occasional wine drinking and beer consumption. Several characters smoke throughout.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About The Burning Plain

Parents need to know that this movie focuses on an adulterous relationship and the devastation it causes to its many victims. There are several scenes of frank sexuality, including passionate foreplay, suggested intercourse, and nudity (bare female breasts, buttocks, backs, and a fully nude woman seen from a distance). A violent explosion/fire that kills two adults is shown several times, though without any gruesome shots of the people inside. A young woman is seen mutilating her leg ("cutting") in a gesture of self-loathing, and two teens use a cigarette lighter to scar themselves. There's also plenty of strong language (including "f--k," "s--t," "bastard," "slut," etc.), smoking throughout, and occasional drinking.

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Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about the fact that guilt is a recurring theme of the movie. Which characters feel guilty? How do the characters reveal their guilt? Are any of the characters strong role models?
  • How many lives were affected by the behavior of two people who fell in love and had an affair? Can you think of other instances in which many people suffer because of the actions of a few? What can we do to be aware of this fact when we make important life choices?
  • The filmmaker uses a nonlinear storytelling method, with repeated shifts of time and place. What do you think the goal behind that decision is? What does this technique require of the viewer?
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