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Parents' Guide to

Kandahar

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Shooting, explosions in decent Afghanistan-set actioner.

Movie R 2023 120 minutes
Kandahar Movie Poster: Gerard Butler stands, looking exhausted and concerned; smaller images of a helicopter and a man on a motorcycle appear below

A Lot or a Little?

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

  • Kandahar Movie: Mo and Tom, who holds a rifle, crouch by the front of a car
  • Kandahar Movie: Tom and Mo look down at something from a ridge
  • Kandahar Movie: Kahil Nazir, wearing black motorcycle gear and looking determined, raises a pistol

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What's the Story?

In KANDAHAR, Tom Harris (Gerard Butler) is working for the CIA as Special Ops in the Middle East. On his latest assignment, he manages to blow up an Iranian nuclear facility. Unfortunately, a whistleblower has given information about the program to a journalist (Nina Toussaint-White), and Tom's position is compromised. Even worse, he's just been assigned a new interpreter, Mohammad Doud, nicknamed "Mo" (Navid Negahban), and Mo's life is now in danger, too. Pursued by the relentless Kahil (Ali Fazal) and most of the Taliban's forces, Tom and Mo must cross 400 miles of hostile terrain to get to Kandahar, Afghanistan, where they have a slim chance of escaping back to the United States.

Is It Any Good?

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

This Afghanistan-set actioner starts off pretty rough, with tons of exposition and little character, but as it moves along and narrows its focus, it becomes surprisingly gripping, even emotional. Stuntman-turned-director Ric Roman Waugh pulled off a similar trick in his last outing with Butler, the asteroid disaster movie Greenland, and even though Kandahar isn't nearly as effective, it has similar touches. First-time screenwriter Mitchell LaFortune packs his thorough script with details, and, rather than taking chintzy shortcuts, it feels like a fleshed-out world.

That said, as it leaps all over from Iran to Afghanistan to Dubai and introduces many characters in a short amount of time, without much context for who they are and what their relationships are, Kandahar is initially frustrating. But once Tom and Mo start their long escape attempt, things ramp up. Viewers learn that Tom has served six tours in the Middle East and is no longer convinced that he's fighting for anything that matters. And he feels guilt over the loss of his previous translator and putting Mo in danger, as well as for neglecting his family by being away. And so the choices made by both Tom and Mo -- often more personal than patriotic -- carry some weight. Indeed, Kandahar is often more heartbreaking than it is exciting. It's an action movie with a soul.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about Kandahar's violence. How did it make you feel? Was it exciting? Shocking? What did the movie show or not show to achieve this effect? Why is that important?

  • What does the movie have to say about war? Does war accomplish anything? Is it necessary to continue fighting? Why, or why not?

  • How does the theme of family play into the story? Why do characters fight in other countries, rather than remain at home with their loved ones?

  • Do you consider Tom Harris a role model? Does he act out of honor? Patriotism? Self-interest? Anything else?

Movie Details

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