Preteen girl looking at a cell phone with her parents

Personalized picks at your fingertips

Get the mobile app on iOS and Android

Parents' Guide to

Drowning

By Stephanie Myers, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Sleepy drama about mom's grief over deployed son.

Movie NR 2020 82 minutes
Drowning Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

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

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

This glimpse into the life of a mother who's figuratively drowning in grief and sadness is a bit slow and somewhat disjointed. While Drowning does do a nice job of showing how a parent can get so anxious about their children's well-being that they lose themselves, the movie's pacing, along with minimal to no interaction between Rose and other characters, makes this rather short film seem to drag. It's unclear what the backstory is regarding Rose's relationships with her son and daughter -- and how her son went from using drugs to joining the military. Rose also keeps apologizing to her son, so viewers don't understand what, other than him joining the military, caused to her to focus all her attention on making sure that he and her daughter are safe.

Parents, especially those whose family members have been deployed, may be able to relate to some of the emotions that Rose is going through. And despite its faults, Drowning has worthy things to say about accepting sadness, coming to terms with what you can control, and understanding that people can drown in their own depression and anxiety if they don't reach out for support.

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