Parents' Guide to

Gloria Bell

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Nuanced, mature character study about a fascinating woman.

Movie R 2019 102 minutes
Gloria Bell Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

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age 18+

Based on 1 parent review

dh9319
dh9319 Adult
March 26, 2019
age 18+

Could be emotionally disrupting

While this film is made very well-great sound engineering, strong and consistent themes, good performances - the overall theme of the movie holds you in a low and deep-seated emotion through the entire story. It is less thought-provoking and more emotionally stirring, and does not influence any positive emotions. The story attempts to end on a hopeful note, but only after a painfully slow and heartbreaking compilation of consecutive problems and challenges the main character barely manages to endure. It is a strong work of art, but not all art has a positive effect on its consumers. I would not recommend this to anyone who struggles with processing emotions, depression or anxiety. This film should be approached with a mindset prepared for emotional resilience.

This title has:

Too much sex
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

In GLORIA BELL, the titular character (Julianne Moore) is a divorced, middle-age woman who works in an insurance office and doesn't hear from her grown children as often as she'd like. At home, she deals with a screaming upstairs neighbor and a mysterious hairless cat that keeps invading her apartment. So she fills her empty hours drinking and dancing to disco tunes at a nightclub. One night, Gloria meets Arnold (John Turturro), and they easily slip into a sexual relationship. Arnold runs a kind of theme park with paintball guns and is newly divorced, at the beck and call of his grown daughters and ex-wife. When Gloria takes him to meet her family at her son's (Michael Cera) birthday party, Arnold suddenly leaves, later claiming that she wasn't paying enough attention to him. He tries to make it up to her by taking her to a fancy hotel in Vegas, but once again disappears when his phone rings. With nothing left to lose, Gloria heads out into the night -- and into the arms of a stranger.

Is It Any Good?

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

Chilean director Sebastian Lelio's English-language remake of his own 2013 Gloria works surprisingly well. It's less a sellout than it is an alternate deep-dive into a heartbreaking character. With Moore ably taking the baton from acclaimed Chilean actor Paulina Garcia, Gloria Bell matches the original almost beat for beat. Offering a nuanced, perceptive look into the life of a character a little past middle age, the movie wonders whether an ordinary woman who's already married and raised children still has a right to, or a shot at, happiness. (The question itself is poignant.) The pitfalls Gloria faces are all viewed through the rich lens of late-life experience.

Gloria is as bitterly familiar with a divorced man's baggage as she is unfamiliar with, say, holding a paintball gun or handling a creepy, hairless cat. She frequently wears a pasted-on smile, perhaps believing that if she appears to be positive, she'll be more appealing to others. But her ache still comes through; she's simultaneously shielded and open-hearted. The movie lacks a certain Chilean climate that belonged to the original, but Lelio -- following up his remarkable English-language debut Disobedience -- manages to find a certain American-ness in his story, especially when it comes to a youth-obsessed culture's disregard for the over-50 set. Regardless of language, Gloria Bell is a sophisticated, touching character study.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how Gloria Bell treats sex. Is it "sexy," or is it more realistic? What's the difference?

  • How are drinking and smoking portrayed? Are they glamorized? What are the consequences?

  • Why do you think there aren't more movies about characters like Gloria -- i.e., women over 50?

  • If you've seen the original, how does this remake compare? Why do you think foreign movies are sometimes remade in English?

Movie Details

  • In theaters: March 8, 2019
  • On DVD or streaming: June 4, 2019
  • Cast: Julianne Moore, John Turturro, Michael Cera
  • Director: Sebastian Lelio
  • Inclusion Information: Latinx directors
  • Studio: A24
  • Genre: Drama
  • Run time: 102 minutes
  • MPAA rating: R
  • MPAA explanation: sexuality, nudity, language and some drug use
  • Last updated: February 25, 2023

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