Preteen girl looking at a cell phone with her parents

Family movie night? There's an app for that

Download our new mobile app on iOS and Android.

Get the app
Parents' Guide to

Cocoon

By Charles Cassady Jr., Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Sex talk, language make iconic '80s sci-fi better for teens.

Movie PG-13 1985 117 minutes
Cocoon Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

See all

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

What's the Story?

In a Florida retirement community, some senior citizens who try to stay adventurous to defy advancing age, disease, and mortality, decide to trespass in a nearby, empty mansion and use the swimming pool. Meanwhile a quartet of benign, luminous space beings have landed on Earth in human disguise. Renting the mansion and a boat from a rather goofball young fishing guide Jack (Steve Guttenberg), the "Antareans" carry out a retrieval mission to haul from the ocean floor their alien comrades, who have been dormant in "cocoons" for the past 10,000 years, ever since the sinking of Atlantis. Yes, the Antareans are that ageless, their life-energy making them practically immortal. The presence of the cocoons in the pool starts to rejuvenate the oldster Earthlings. Dapper Art (Don Ameche) starts romancing retired showgirls Bess (Gwen Verdon). Joe (Hume Cronyn) finds his cancer going away and his libido returning. Keeping the miracle pool a secret becomes a problem for the species of both planets.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say Not yet rated
Kids say (2 ):

This isn't the only sci-fi based on the Fountain of Youth, but it is an uncommonly gentle one. It also makes a few serious points (blunted a bit by wish-fulfillment and special effects) about the plight of the aged in modern society. Elders here are poignantly marginalized, their "golden years" spent mostly waiting to die. Only one guy with a loving grandchild seems to have strong ties with the world outside the senior community, and it's a world that wants to revoke his driver's license (and thus his independence) because of bad eyesight.

There's a strong emotional undertone and some real tearjerking moments when aliens offer these seniors immortality. One wishes director Ron Howard had toned down the f/x-blitz finale and explored more thoroughly whether death/ loss are necessary to be human; the sequel Coccoon: The Return groped in that direction but came up mediocre.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the theme of immortality and rejuvenation and the choices the characters make regarding it. What do kids think of Bernie, who rejects the gift because it seems unnatural to him?

  • Talk about aging -- a theme still not addressed very plainly in youth-oriented Hollywood, and often couched in fantasy terms like 17 Again and Forever Young. Ask kids if they think about being old and what it might be like.

  • Discuss other tales of immortality and "fountains of youth" -- kids may know the violent Highlander series, too-many-to-name vampire dramas, even the Harry Potter novels, that ask how far one would go to live forever.

Movie Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

See all recommended movie lists

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate