Parents' Guide to

Disturbia

By Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Voyeuristic teen Rear Window update.

Movie PG-13 2007 105 minutes
Disturbia Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

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age 14+

Based on 11 parent reviews

RichManGold
RichManGold Adult
December 20, 2020
age 13+
Iz27
Iz27 Parent of 14-year-old
April 24, 2020
age 14+

Love this movie!

This is such a great movie! It has a big amount of sexual stuff, but mature kids should be fine with this movie! There's a decent amount of violence, but not over the top. Either way, it's an INCREDIBLE movie; one of my favorites!

This title has:

Too much sex
See all 11 parent reviews

What's the Story?

An update of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, DISTURBIA centers on angry teenager Kale (Carrie-Anne Moss) cuts off his XBox and iTunes access, leaving him to seek other entertainment -- namely, spying on his neighbors. "This is reality without the TV!" he says gleefully. He sees a man cheating on his wife, little boys watching porn on TV, and the odious Turner (David Morse). Intrigued by Turner's vintage Mustang (the same car spotted at the scene of a woman's disappearance) and dates (one woman appears to be terrified by a knife), Kale soon finds encouragement from his best friend, Ronnie (Aaron Yoo), and his new, attractive, and apparently lonely neighbor, Ashley (Sarah Roemer).

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (11):
Kids say (43):

Until it runs off its rails in the third act, Disturbia teeters between strangely mesmerizing and strangely clumsy. At its center is a worthy examination of voyeurism, which has pervaded current popular culture in the form of reality TV and Internet video diaries. Less admirable is a familiar serial-killer plot in which a monster menaces clueless women, including the hero's mother.

The plot lurches in order to get Kale into tight spots: First Ashley is wonderful, then she's disloyal and superficial; Ronnie is helpfully tech-savvy, then he's an idiot; a local cop assigned to monitor Kale is adversarial. Still, the camerawork is clever (recurring close-ups and bad framing approximate Kale's untrained eye), and Kale suffers from both over-stimulation and privilege. Increasingly distracted by the sheer number of ways he's found to watch the violence and sex unfolding before him -- computer screen, cell phone, video camera, binoculars, even his own eyes -- Kale is eventually unable to respond coherently, although by that time the plot has gone loopy, too. But even as the many possibilities for spying are speeded up and multiplied, the movie's focus on the consequences of voyeurism remains relevant and riveting.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about voyeurism. Has the rise of things like reality TV and user-generated online video made people accustomed to the idea of scrutinizing others for entertainment? What role does media -- or the lack thereof -- play in Kale's decision to observe his neighbors? Does the fact that he discovers a terrible criminal make up for the fact that he's spying? What are the movie's messages about connections and relationships between people in modern life? Families who've also seen Rear Window (the inspiration for this film) can compare the two movies. What's changed since the original was made?

Movie Details

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