Common Sense Media Review
By S. Jhoanna Robledo
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Moving drama about interracial couple's historic fight.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 12+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Loving
What's the Story?
In LOVING, it's 1958, and Richard and Mildred Loving (Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga) are a newly married interracial couple living in Virginia. They're expecting their first child when they're arrested and thrown into jail because Virginia's miscegenation laws make their union illegal. But their one-year sentence is suspended on the condition they leave Virginia and never return -- at least, not together. Years later, they're living in Washington, D.C., but still longing for their relatives back home and the land on which they grew up and had planned to raise their family. Then the American Civil Liberties Union takes up the Lovings' case on the grounds that they were treated unequally on the basis of race. The fight ends up going all the way to the Supreme Court.
Is It Any Good?
This drama is the disciplined, steadfast, and ultimately moving story of one of the most groundbreaking cases ever to reach the Supreme Court. With confident hands, writer-director Jeff Nichols traces the hardships that Richard and Mildred Loving faced on their way to helping overturn the miscegenation laws that for years that prohibited marriage between races in some states, including Virginia.
The challenge for filmmakers taking on real-life events is how to show each step in the story -- some of which may seem more process-focused than exciting when translated to the screen -- while entertaining audiences. Loving succeeds because it quietly and confidently paints a picture of a couple and their family who just want to be left alone to live and love as they wish. Edgerton and Negga are up to the task, their performances subdued but powerful. Loving is a triumph.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Loving depicts the historic events at its center. How accurate do you think it is? Why might filmmakers choose to alter the facts? What are the challenges of adapting a true story for the screen?
Are Richard and Mildred role models? Why? How do they demonstrate perseverance? Why is that an important character strength?
What does this movie teach us about history and how both laws and public opinion change over time? What other laws targeting specific groups of people have been amended/overturned?
Movie Details
- In theaters : November 4, 2016
- On DVD or streaming : February 7, 2017
- Cast : Joel Edgerton , Michael Shannon , Ruth Negga
- Director : Jeff Nichols
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s) , Black Movie Actor(s) , Multiracial Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Focus Features
- Genre : Drama
- Topics : History
- Character Strengths : Compassion , Perseverance
- Run time : 123 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : thematic elements
- Award : Common Sense Selection
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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