• Is it age appropriate?

  About our ratings

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  Not age appropriate for kids under 13, age appropriate for kids over 15; suggested age 16.

• Is it any good?

  3.0

• Common Sense says

  Satan vs. BFF feminism in grownup fantasy-comedy.

Why We Rated This for Ages 16 and Up

What to watch out for

• Messages:

  Ethical good-vs.-evil, temptation-vs.-virtue, God vs. Satan message is transformed into a slapstick-tinged battle of the sexes, and the implications are best not examined very deeply. Though Eastwick has an active church, it seems to have no presence or role when the devil comes. The only character who does recognize Daryl Van Horne's diabolical nature and tries to fight him is depicted unsympathetically, as a mentally ill, prudish hysteric who just makes her husband (and everyone else) miserable. Ultimately the story is about glammed-up single mothers fearlessly raising their boys communally in an environment where men are neither needed nor welcome.
• Role models :

  In the John Updike book the title characters really are a practicing witch coven, performing pagan rituals. Here they're not; they just steal a few of Satan's tricks to use against him. Each woman ends up easily charmed/seduced, and they don't argue with extramarital sex. The devil, for most of the movie, comes across more like a lecherous and likeable wizard with a possessive streak. Except for a speech accusing God of making frequent mistakes he doesn't seem to have an evil or unholy agenda, besides maintaining a harem of pretty women for companionship, sex, and recreation.
• Violence:

  Supernatural "violence" includes a character hit briefly with a rapid-aging hoodoo, a whirlwind that assaults Daryl, and stabs of pain resulting from pins being stuck into a voodoo-type doll. Severe vomiting induced by magic. One character falls down a flight of steps; another gets a minor cut from a broken bass-violin string. An out-of-control car wrecks. Rather confusing hints that a murder-suicide has taken place.
• Sex:

  Lots of talk about sex, penis size and shapes, being "horny," and the f-word in its literal meaning. No action shown, although it's obvious that intercourse has taken place -- possibly with three women at once -- and pregnancy results. Actresses wear sexy clothing. The only nudity comes from the obese tribal-Venus figurines that a character makes.
• Language:

  "F---k," "s--t," "bitch," "schlong," "dick."
• Consumerism:

  Some household product labels (Ritz crackers, etc.). A spinoff TV series came along 20 years later. A book of the same title exists too, of course.
• Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

  Social and recreational drinking at home.

What Parents Need to Know

About The Witches of Eastwick

Families Can Talk About