 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
The Village
- Review Date: January 9, 2005
- PG-13
- Genre: Thriller
- 2004
Common Sense Media says
Thought-provoking thriller too intense for some.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this is a very tense and scary thriller that may be too much for some tweens. Know your kid. While much of the scary stuff is in the audience's imagination, there are some scary jump-out-at-you surprises and some gory graphic images. Characters are attacked and killed. Some viewers may be concerned about the portrayal of a developmentally delayed and possibly disturbed character.
What's the story?
The people of the village of Covington have an uneasy truce with creatures who live in the woods that ring their town. Fear keeps most residents well inside the boundaries ringed by flags, but reckless teens dare each other to test the boundaries, and developmentally disabled Noah (Adrien Brody) doesn't always do what he's told. The story centers on sisters Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard), who's blind, and Kitty (Judy Greer). Both are drawn to Lucius (Joaquin Phoenix), but he only has eyes for Ivy. Lucius angers the creatures by venturing into the woods, and there's an attack. But then something else goes very wrong and someone else must enter the woods...
Is it any good?
Producer/writer/director M. Night Shyamalan is in some ways the victim of his own success. He's under a lot of pressure to keep pulling surprise endings out of cinematic hats. The problem is that an expected surprise is, in addition to an oxymoron, inevitably disappointing. Yet he knows how to use the camera to tell the story and has a sure control of tone and pace, alternating gasps and laughs to keep things moving. The heart of the movie is Dallas Howard (daughter of actor/director Ron Howard) as Ivy, who is always fresh, touching, and real.
The plot is a familiar yet compelling quest into the woods, a soul journey, and we get a nod to that when a young yellow ridinghood (red upsets the creatures) enters the woods on a mission of mercy. Shyamalan is not, well, afraid, to take on some big notions about fear and inhumanity and he creates characters we are willing to trust and care about.
Explore, discuss, enjoy
Families can talk about what drew the families in the village to settle where they did in spite of the risks. They could also think about whether there were any clues in the movie that pointed to the ultimate twist. Why did Edward send Ivy? The movie was originally called "The Woods." Is that a better title? What is the scariest part of the movie and why?
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- Teens & kids
Teen, 13 years old
November 14, 2009
AGE
Mature teens+.
Most of this movie, I think could generally be acceptable for 13+, but some parts push that, ie graphic descriptions of violent and sometimes s**ual crimes, and a bloody murder scene. Not for young kids.
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Kid, 9 years old
November 29, 2009
AGE
boring movie, maybe for 12-14
i think it is a bad movie, but it isnt the worst one ever. there is so much talking and hardly any action. there is a scene where a man gets stabbed by a knife, and it is sort of bloody. there isnt any positive messages, especially the man getting stabbed. it is also pretty scary in a few parts. i gave it iffy for 12+ because some violence and blood, scariness, innapropriate themes, and also because there is so much talking anyone under 12 will be bored to death by it. i do not know how i made it through the movie without falling asleep.
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Teen, 15 years old
November 1, 2009
AGE
Awesome movie that has been extremely underrated
This movie is genius. It has got to be one of my favourite movies and definitely M.Night Shyamalan's best. The style and way that it is directed is amazing. There are some jump out parts but the twists are just awesome. Watch it with the volume turned all the way up if you want the full effect.
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Kid, 11 years old
February 9, 2010
AGE
i liked it, but it dosent have very much action at all. there is a pretty small amount of violence, but lots of scary scenes. there are a few parts that are bad messages
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Adult
November 7, 2011
AGE
Hauntingly Beautiful
There are a few scattered scenes of violence in this film that keep it from a PG rating. One involves a person being brutally stabbed twice with a knife, and there is some blood. The most intense part about this scene is that the character being stabbed is a very likable character and the stabbing is very unexpected. This will probably bother most people quite a bit. It shocked me when I first saw it, and I was fifteen at the time. That said, though parts of this film are intense and scary, there's really not a lot to worry about in the way of content. There is no sex at all. No dialogue. No nudity. No steamy sexual encounters (unless you count some brief kissing which is handled sweetly and innocently). There is no language either. A few people say, "Oh, God!" twice. But they are religious people and they are not cursing.
This is not one of M. Night Shymalayan's most popular films, but I thought that it was very good. Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix, and Adrien Brody are phenomenal! I loved the sweet romance, the chill that ran down my spine in a few scenes, the haunting beauty of the film, and the positive messages that fill it.
I'm nineteen years old and this is one of my favorite movies. If you have kids, you might let some of them younger than thirteen see it, if you are willing to fast-forward the one or two violent scenes. It still might be too scary for more sensitive children, but overall not as dark as one might expect.
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Kid, 10 years old
August 10, 2010
AGE
more family friendly than signs, but not carebears or anything
ok, pg-13 is perfect. its not really innapropriate (with the exception of one violent scene) but hard to sit through if your like under 13, but 11+ can see it.
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Kid, 12 years old
May 29, 2011
AGE
wtf
overall it was a fine movie but what i do not get is why 92% of all people say that the sexual behavior was inopropriate there was nothing sexuall in it it was not that great and it kind of bored me to death if you call this pg-13 then barney is like the scream movies
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Kid, 12 years old
November 7, 2009
AGE
Most of this movie would probably be ok for most children who are 13+, but there are some scenes that push that. There's a disturbing murder sequence, and a brief sequence where characters discuss horrible, and sometimes s**ually innappropriate things that happened to their family members. Some very tense moments.
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Teen, 14 years old
April 11, 2011
AGE
good for teens, younger ppl might not understand it.
When I watched this movie I was in the mood for a thriller monster movie and was dissapointed. It wasn't right for my current mood. But looking back I can appreciate it for the kind of movie it was. A good mood to be in when you watch The Village is a want for something eerie. It is a good social commentary when you find out the scariest creatures are closer than you think...
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Teen, 13 years old
August 9, 2009
AGE
good movie
good but can be scary at some moments.
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| Studio: | Buena Vista |
| Director: | M. Night Shyamalan |
| Cast: | Adrien Brody, Bryce Dallas Howard, Joaquin Phoenix |
| Genre: | Thriller |
| Run time: | 100 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | July 30, 2004 |
| DVD release date: | January 11, 2005 |
| MPAA rating: | PG-13 |
| MPAA explanation: | a scene of violence and frightening situations |
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