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

Finch

By Tara McNamara, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Heart, humor, hope in sci-fi road dramedy; peril, language.

Movie PG-13 2021 115 minutes
Finch Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

age 14+

Based on 4 parent reviews

age 15+

Excellent but extremely tense and suspenseful

Our family doesn’t watch scary or tense movies because we have very sensitive eyes and brains that tend towards re-seeing everything over and over again. The messages, the tone, the values are all so excellent, and the characters are outstanding. My 11 and 13 year old girls couldn’t get through the first few minutes—they do show corpses, which aren’t very fully captured, but they do look scary, and the music and cinematography makes you think something awful is about to happen. My husband and I absolutely loved the movie, and families who watch more violent genres than we do might find success watching together as a family. If you’re unsure, watch alone without the kids to decide, because you won’t mind watching it again—it’s that good.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Too much violence
Too much swearing
4 people found this helpful.
age 10+

Futurist Boomsday 'Cast Away'

Tom Hanks certainly brings all of his amazing acting. You can't help staying curious with the character development. Thought provoking. 13 year old really liked it and we appreciated the lower tone of violence and stimulus.

This title has:

Great messages

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (4 ):
Kids say (11 ):

The end of the world is as terrifying as ideas come, but this stormy dramedy softens the blow with a robot, a dog, and the always appealing Hanks. Steven Spielberg's production company, Amblin, and Walden are both leaders in creating exceptional entertainment for families, and director Miguel Sapochnik follows the path they've forged. Sitting smack in the middle of a four-way genre stop, Finch is a sci-fi dystopian special effects drama, a buddy road comedy, and, unexpectedly, a robot's coming-of-age story. Android Jeff, who is a newborn of sorts, takes on the traits and attitudes of an intelligent child, providing an avenue for relatability for tweens and teens. And as the inventor who crafted Jeff, Finch is somewhat of a father; parents will connect with his moments of frustration, amazement, and pride in his creation.

Casting Hanks as the last known human is a stroke of brilliance. Part of the actor's talent is the ability to craft entirely new characters while retaining enough of his Hanksian familiarity that viewers start off already caring about him. He's proven himself the master of singular solitude, playing solo characters who must rely on their own skills to survive -- whether facing down pirates in Captain Phillips, regaining control over a careening plane in Sully, or literally surviving alone on an island in Cast Away. Hanks doesn't need no stinkin' fellow human actors: He's a one-man show. Like Hanks, aerospace engineer Finch is self-reliant. He trusts no one but must rely on someone -- or something -- else so that his progeny (in this case, his dog), can survive. The greater takeaway here is that he's leaving a legacy, teaching the next generation how to rebuild. Which really means that this entertaining spectacle is a roadmap for adults to understand how to cultivate and educate those who come after them, and for young people to understand that if they listen to the lessons of those who've come before and learn from mistakes (both theirs and adults'), they'll have the tools they need to build a better future.

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