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Parents' Guide to

D.A.R.Y.L.

By Andrea Beach, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 11+

'80s robot-becomes-human story falls flat.

Movie PG 1985 99 minutes
D.A.R.Y.L. Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

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age 8+

Based on 2 parent reviews

ecojournalist
ecojournalist Parent of 5-year-old
November 9, 2019
age 5+

Largely benign 80s kids flick

Totally dated from the 80s, this movie has less violence than today's (2019) primetime news. Got a good sort of Stranger Things vibe to it as well given that the kid is super mysterious and is taken in for government testing. There are some good family moments, but yeah it falls a bit flat for older, more sophisticated viewers. There's a 'shit', a 'son of a bitch' , but our 5yo doesn't repeat bad words in movies. He was exhilarated to see the car chase and the police cars crashing. He liked the kid, as it's easy to identify with D.A.R.Y.L. being a robot, and just wanting to be normal.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
PAV3
PAV3 Adult
July 12, 2019
age 11+

Great Kids SciFi Adventure Movie - but language

OK, there is an intense chase scene with a gunshot death at the beginning. The mischievous "Turtle" teases his teen aged sister repeatedly by calling her a "Hooker", but the running Joke is that DARYL doesn't know what a Hooker is. DARYL experiments with rebellion with a scene where he cusses at his foster dad. That's really it on the negatives. Very exciting - and the acting and character development is solid for an 80s pop movie. OK for a Mature 11 to immature 13.
See all 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Daryl (Barret Oliver), a young boy suffering from amnesia, is placed in foster care with the Richardsons (Michael McKean, Mary Beth Hurt) until his parents can be found. The Richardsons notice some peculiar things about Daryl, such as his amazing ability to hit home runs and the fact that he keeps his bedroom spotlessly clean, but they quickly grow to love him for his earnest, caring ways. When his real parents are eventually found, Daryl is whisked away from the people he's grown to love and taken to a high-security military facility, where the truth about his past is revealed. Meanwhile, the Pentagon staff responsible for the D.A.R.Y.L. experiment decide it's time to end it -- and to put an end to Daryl, too. Can he escape and make his way back to the only real family he knows?

Is It Any Good?

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

D.A.R.Y.L. is a movie with its heart in the right place that almost succeeds where it counts but never really delivers genuine emotion. The script is flat and relies on overly broad strokes that lack realism to lay out the story. It also leans heavily on cliché to get through the quieter, personal moments we know the veteran cast is capable of delivering when the material is there.

Big kids will get some laughs out of Daryl's relationship with best friend Turtle, who schools him in the ways of kid-dom, and they'll easily relate to Daryl thanks to Barret Oliver's surprisingly charming performance. But they may get restless as the plot drags on, especially in the third act, which takes too long to resolve without delivering much in the way of action or suspense.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about why movies about robots are so popular. Why do we find them so fascinating?

  • Do you agree that "a machine becomes human when you can't tell the difference anymore"?

  • Do you think robots that could pass for human might really exist some day? Do you think we should try to develop that kind of technology? Why, or why not?

Movie Details

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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.

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