Annoying, idiotic people behave in a selfish, cowardly way during a natural disaster. There are one or two exceptions (i.e. people who perform brave or selfless acts), but these people are punished and destroyed. No one learns anything, and life is cruel.

Positive Role Models & Representations

Before the disaster, the characters only think about sex, or else they fight with one another. After the disaster, they mostly act selfishly and/or cowardly.

Violence

Brutal rape scenes in which a band of escaped convicts rapes two women. There's lots of blood, people on fire, and people impaled by random objects; if characters aren't crushed, mutilated, or killed in the earthquake or aftershocks, they're shot/murdered by the convicts or by other panicky people. A man loses his hand, and a woman gets her face smashed by a car while climbing out of a manhole. There's a funicular crash in which women and children die. Brief fighting and punching.

Sex

The characters think and talk about sex a lot. There's strong innuendo, lots of skimpy clothing, and characters intentionally walking and dancing in "sexy" ways. A woman bends over and reveals a suggestive tattoo on her lower back. A man takes a picture of his genitals with a friend's phone (as a practical joke), and viewers see the photo. Male buttocks are briefly shown during the rape sequences.

Language

Language isn't constant but does contain several uses of "f--k," as well as "s--t," "c--k," "bitch," and "hell." Some swear words appear in subtitles (spoken in Spanish), and others are spoken in English.

Consumerism

Before the earthquake, characters are constantly checking their iPhones, taking pictures, texting, and phoning.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Characters spend the movie's first third partying in clubs; they occasionally overindulge with drinks, but it's mostly social drinking. Some characters are seen smoking. A woman is supposed to be looking after her sister, preventing her from drinking, but the sister gets drunk anyway. The characters also attend a wine tasting.

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that Aftershock is a horror/disaster movie with lots of gratuitous gore -- including severed hands, people getting impaled with random objects, people on fire and/or being crushed -- as well as some truly brutal rape scenes. There's some nudity involved, lots of innuendo/sex talk, skimpy outfits galore, and plenty of drinking/partying scenes. Language is also strong, with many uses of "f--k," as well as "s--t" and "c--k." Co-writer/star Eli Roth has a strong cult following for having directed the Hostel torture movies, and his fans will want to see this. But it's really not age appropriate for kids of any age.

User Reviews

Parents say
Kids say

Parent of a 12 year old Written byVlad22 August 6, 2013

age 18+

No.

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Adult Written bySam Marrick April 1, 2018

age 18+

Very hopeless movie. But functional.

Everyone dies horribly, often if not always after trying to help someone. The person they help often ends up dying horribly too. Competently made. Some scenes m... Continue reading

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Kid, 10 years old May 11, 2013

age 18+

Horrible

Horrible just horrible movie

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Teen, 16 years old Written byUnknownpearson June 3, 2013

age 18+

Not for kids

Terrible movie iwithno messageges and role models . Waste of yor money time popcorn and soda!allthis movie will do is scare the baks out of you .no entertainmen... Continue reading

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What's the story?

A clueless American (Eli Roth) is vacationing in Chile with some buddies (Ariel Levy and Nicolas Martinez), enjoying nightclubs, drinking, partying, and wine tasting. Not long after the friends meet some pretty girls (Andrea Osvart, Lorenza Izzo, and Natasha Yarovenko), a terrible earthquake rocks the nation. It collapses buildings, crushes people, and causes general chaos. Worse, a prison crumbles, and evil, raping, murdering inmates are now on the loose, terrorizing survivors. The potential victims' only hope is a secret tunnel that goes beneath an ancient church, but can they make it that far? And if they do, what awaits them down there?

Is it any good?

At times it seems like Aftershock is trying to be funny -- with disastrous results -- and at other times, it's heart-stoppingly serious, as in the horrifying rape scene. The movie spends at least a third of its running time establishing the "characters" who will soon be terrorized, but they still seem, for the most part, horribly flat and highly unlikable. It's just as well, since the filmmakers also don't seem to care about them. Gomez appears in the film's only good scene, coldly rebuffing Roth's advances in a nightclub.

Roth has a cult following for directing the gory Hostel "torture porn" movies, but lately he's become more of a celebrity, appearing on screen in various cameos and silly roles in other movies. With AFTERSHOCK, he's co-written a lead role for himself and handed the directorial reins over to Chilean filmmaker Nicolas Lopez. The result is supposed to be a subversive hybrid of disaster movies and gory horror, but it's uncertain where the two actually meet.

Talk to your kids about ...

Families can talk about Aftershock's violence. Was it intended to scare viewers or amuse them? How can you tell? What about the rape scenes? Do these kinds of scenes belong in the same movie?
What's the appeal of disaster movies? Do you think a disaster like the one shown here could occur? If so, is it better to try to prepare or better not to worry about something we can't control?
Why did the two sisters fight so much about drinking? How is drinking portrayed in the movie?
What did you think of Selena Gomez's appearance in this movie, in such a mature role? Does she have a responsibility to be a role model to her younger fans?

Movie details

In theaters: May 10, 2013
On DVD or streaming: August 6, 2013
Cast: Andrea Osvart, Eli Roth, Selena Gomez
Director: Nicolas Lopez
Studios: Dimension, Radius TWC
Genre: Horror
Run time: 89 minutes
MPAA rating: R
MPAA explanation: strong bloody violence including rape, language, drug content and some nudity

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