Parents' Guide to

Clueless

By Sarah Wenk, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Charming take on Jane Austen's Emma has sex, drugs.

Movie PG-13 1995 97 minutes
Clueless Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

age 13+

Based on 32 parent reviews

age 13+

Lots of teen and adult language.

Language is mild to PG-13. But is there a teen party where there is lots of drugs and passionate kissing in the background. There is also a scene where the main character Cher gets robbed at gunpoint. (***NO BLOOD OR VIOLENCE***) So in my opinion it is not for younger kids.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much consumerism
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
4 people found this helpful.
age 15+

Romanticizes disrespectful/imbalanced relationships

The final romance is that the 16 year old main character falls for a college aged man who thinks of her in a really condescending and patronizing way, yet somehow their getting together is considered romantic. This type of unequal power dynamic in a relationship shouldn't be portrayed as something positive. Also, there's joint smoking, alcohol drinking, passed out high school kids at multiple parties. No thanks. We can do better.
2 people found this helpful.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (32 ):
Kids say (168 ):

This movie is loosely based on Jane Austen's Emma, and it does an excellent job of transferring the story to a contemporary context. It doesn't feel dated -- the direction is bright and fresh, and the performances are uniformly excellent. Silverstone is particularly good, managing to be charming, ditsy, and annoying all at once, and it's clear why this movie made her a star.

This film isn't appropriate for young kids -- it contains drinking, drug use, and implied sex -- but teens will love it. And it might even get them to read some Jane Austen.

Movie Details

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