Father and child sit together smiling while looking at a smart phone.

Want more recommendations for your family?

Sign up for our weekly newsletter for entertainment inspiration

Parents' Guide to

Dragonfly

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Boring, phony and a complete waste of talent.

Movie PG-13 2002 115 minutes
Dragonfly Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

See all
age 13+

Based on 3 parent reviews

Ayemi
Ayemi Adult
July 10, 2021
age 13+

Nice

Good
smalltownme
smalltownme Adult
May 25, 2020
age 13+

Loved it!

I thought it was cool
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In DRAGONFLY, Kevin Costner plays Joe Darrow, a doctor whose pregnant wife is killed on a humanitarian mission in South America. He is heartbroken. He begins to believe that she is sending him messages through the sick children she used to care for. Somehow, when they have near-death experiences, they communicate with her. Joe is committed to a rational view of the world, and is torn between wanting to hold on to what he believes and wanting to hold on to what he had with his wife. Finally, the messages are impossible to ignore, he goes off in search of whatever it is that is she is trying to tell him.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3 ):
Kids say (4 ):

Dragonfly is another attempt at creating a new Sixth Sense, and it falls far short. It is dreary, it is boring, and worst of all, it is phony. And it completely wastes the talents of two brilliant Oscar-winning actresses, Kathy Bates and Linda Hunt.

The movie has some highly predictable surprises as Joe gets everything but a telegram showing the weird curvy cross sign that turns out to symbolize a waterfall. As hard as Costner tries, you can't help feeling that he does not really care that much about it, and neither does the audience.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about their own views on life after death and the ability of dead loved ones to communicate with those left behind.

Movie Details

Inclusion information powered by

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.

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