Parents' Guide to

It

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Terrifying evil clown movie based on Stephen King classic.

Movie R 2017 135 minutes
It Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

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age 13+

Based on 274 parent reviews

Dan-D-Mann
Dan-D-Mann Parent of 12-year-old
December 4, 2021
age 11+

It is the best!!!

It is a great movie but people always say about how ‘terrifying’ it is, but I dont see it neither does my cousin when she saw it we both agree that it’s not scary in the slightest but there is a lot of swearing and quite a bit of blood including a boy stabbing his father in the neck with a knife and the f word a lot of the time and some teenage kids abusing a kid and another kid getting abused by there father but overall it’s an epic movie!!!

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Too much violence
Too much swearing
5 people found this helpful.
MovieLover-Amy
MovieLover-Amy Adult
November 13, 2021
age 13+

Great film, but not for kids under 13

I recommend this film to everyone who loves slightly disturbing films and TV shows like me but for anyone under the age of 13 you really should not watch it. It's very gory and contains adult language. Psychologically any kid that isn't a teen (13+) would find this film frighting even if the child says it was fine or the trailer doesn't scare me or even if they've seen clips of the film because if you watch the whole film and the whole story put together they are not going to find it appealing. The reason why it's okay for a 13 year old and up is because if you put it next to other scary films it's not very scary and it also depends on the child whether they are mature enough to realise that it is not real. Overall you should not let a 12 year old watch this unless you're absolutely sure your child will be fine with it but anywhere over 12 you're fine to watch it if you would like, but ask you're parent first, it's not my decision.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
4 people found this helpful.
See all 274 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In IT, it's 1988 in the town of Derry, Maine, and little Georgie (Jackson Robert Scott) goes outside in the rain to sail the toy boat that his older brother, Bill (Jaeden Lieberher), made for him. The boat goes down the drain. Looking into the sewer, Georgie encounters a scary clown called Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) and disappears. The following summer, as school lets out, Bill and the other town outcasts -- including pretty Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis) and loudmouth Richie Tozier (Finn Wolfhard) -- are beset by bullies. They start to experience terrifying events of their own and notice that other kids in town are disappearing. Thanks to their new friend, Ben (Jeremy Ray Taylor), the teens discover that the waves of evil things seem to happen in cycles of 27 years and that all of it leads back to a well in the basement of a creepy old house. Bill vows to stop whatever it is that killed his brother.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (274 ):
Kids say (928 ):

Based on Stephen King's 1986 novel, this terrifying clown movie builds its fright from fear itself. In that respect, it's more aligned with The Goonies, Stand by Me, and Stranger Things than it is with slasher movies or jump scares. Director Andy Muschietti, whose disappointing horror movie Mama never would have indicated anything as good as It, keeps things simple by focusing on the bond between the outcast kids -- there are plenty of scenes that could have been taken right out of any regular summertime coming-of-age movie -- and by using a slick combination of practical and digital effects.

The result feels like it could have come right out of the 1980s. Few of the familiar, overused cliches of recent horror movies are here, and with its effective use of music, editing, set design, choice of angles, and overall rhythms, It generates honest-to-goodness tingles, rather than quick shocks. And Pennywise is an iconic character, based not on a simple fear of death -- he's more than just a Freddy or a Jason -- but on something more primal and unexplainable, a thing of nightmares. This epic It promises that it's only Chapter One, with more terror to come.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about It's violence. What's the difference between the violence committed by bullies or abusive parents and violence by the movie's supernatural forces? What's the impact of media violence on kids?

  • How scary is the movie? Why? What scared you the most? What's the appeal of scary movies?

  • How are bullies depicted in the movie? Are there adult bullies as well as teen ones? How are they dealt with? Could there be other ways of dealing with them?

  • How does this movie compare to the book? To the miniseries?

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