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Parents' Guide to

Cadaver

By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Ghoulish horror movie has graphic violence, gore.

Movie NR 2020 86 minutes
Cadaver Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 11+

Based on 1 parent review

Valorant
Valorant Adult
April 14, 2022
age 11+
It's a really good film. I would say 11+ as the themes are strong but obviously fake. Great movie but depends on your kids maturity.
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

CADAVER poses a hypothetical post-apocalyptic Norway where the devastation after a nuclear bomb has left a city in ruins and the people desperate, hopeless, and hungry. Bodies lie where they fell. Buildings are decimated. Leo (Gitte Witt) and Jacob (Thomas Gulletad) huddle in their bombed-out home without enough food for themselves or their young daughter, Alice (Tuva Olivia Remman). So when the local hotel invites neighbors to dinner and a show, everyone wonders what's the catch, but hunger drives many to eat the meal and watch the audience-participation performance. When Leo and Jacob, theater people themselves in their past life, participate, it soon becomes clear that the seemingly harmless event has a murderous underpinning. Dinner isn't what it seems. The actors aren't who they seem. The purpose of the evening isn't what it seems. Violence ensues with lots of blood, some theatrical and some real.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1 ):
Kids say (2 ):

The elements of the macabre in Cadaver are what this movie does well, but the big "secret" horror that's meant to surprise us in the end is obvious from the start, which makes the film feel slow. When the theater company offers its audience a "meal" during a famine, the first thought is, Where did they get enough food to share with a crowd of theater-goers? There's really only one answer to that question. On the other hand, the movie is beautifully made, with nearly every scene tinged with alarming red lighting, suggesting the bloody fate of the innocent attendees, and the bloody intentions of the plotting theater company members.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about what you might do to stay alive in desperate circumstance. Do you think you would behave brutally if you saw no alternative? Why or why not?

  • How do people maintain their morals and integrity when the world turns to chaos?

  • Can the movie's plot serve as a metaphor for what people will do under sufficient stress? Do you think wartime situations also promote what is most horrific in humanity? Why or why not?

Movie Details

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