The Imitation Game

There are two graphic conversations about sex (Turing with male prostitutes and another male character receiving oral sex) in the movie. Beware if you are showing this film to more than just your own children. The Common Sense Media review leaves this out. If it were not for those two scenes, I would give this film 5 stars and say that it was a great movie for even younger children.

We saw this movie without our kids, loved it, and would like to be able to share it with them...but at ages 8 and 11 we're not sure they can handle it. The pros: Turing is a great inspiration for bright, quirky kids (particularly any kids on the spectrum -- some people believe he had Asperger's), and the movie's very explicit (but not heavy-handed) message is that people who don't quite fit in often turn out to have the biggest impact. Keira Knightley's character is a great example for girls, particularly any who are trying to navigate the line between academic achievement and social acceptance. The caveat (and spoiler, if you don't know the details of Turing's life): at the very end of the movie, after Turing is outed as gay, he is chemically castrated and then (though this is mentioned only in a text note on screen at the end) commits suicide. While it was very clear to us as adults that his sad fate had everything to do with the homophobia of that time, and almost nothing to do with his personality or brilliance (I say "almost nothing" because I don't know whether and how his social skills played into his outing/sentencing) I'm not so sure that would be clear to our kids. I'm worried they might think this shows how dangerous it is to be different, and also, that it might glamorize suicide (the movie certainly doesn't, but it's something to be aware of). If you were watching at home you could avoid those last bits simply by turning off the movie once Turing finishes telling his story to the detective -- basically, skip the last 10 minutes. But I'd be concerned that the kids would still follow up via Google, and I think it's Turing's ultimate fate that makes this movie's themes pretty tough for kids. The movie itself is fabulous. And in my view, no issue at all in terms of sexual content. The only thing I'd skip for our kids, other than the last 10 minutes, is the scene where Turing gets bullied, and a scene where Turing and Joan Clark are meeting with their MI-6 handler, and she looks out a cafe window and sees war casualties. Hope this is helpful!