Parents' Guide to

Mute

By Renee Longstreet, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

Futuristic thriller has brutality, sex, cursing.

Movie NR 2018 126 minutes
Mute Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

  • Mute Movie: Leo
  • Mute Movie: Cactus Bill
  • Mute Movie: Naadirah
  • Mute Movie: Duck

Community Reviews

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age 13+

Based on 1 parent review

RedMaryland87
RedMaryland87 Adult
February 17, 2022
age 13+

Tip of the Spear

Outstanding performance by lead character. Incredible story line. The North Star in a world gone mad. I highly recommend this motion picture.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
1 person found this helpful.
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

In MUTE, mid-21st-century Berlin is a city teeming with corruption, untempered sexuality, and violence. Leo (Alexander Skarsgard), a shy bartender at a gaudy strip club, is voiceless because of a childhood accident. He's in love with Naadirah (Seyner Saleh), a cocktail waitress. Their relationship is passionate, warm, and genuine. After a tender night together, during which Naadirah reveals that there are secrets she hasn't yet shared with him, Leo wakes up to find her gone. Distraught, he sets out to find her. Leo's mission takes him into the underbelly of the city. Among those he encounters are two off-the-wall former U.S. army surgeons: Cactus Bill (Paul Rudd), who's desperately trying to get false papers to take his young daughter out of Berlin; and Duck (Justin Theroux), Billl's sidekick with some off-putting proclivities. Leo's presence and persistence begin to upset the status quo, especially an unscrupulous crime lord. After a series of mind-bending twists and turns, Leo's obsession results in his becoming the hunted, culminating in a fierce battle between the forces of good and evil.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (3):

Filmmaker Duncan Jones cleverly manages to put the dystopian setting in the background and focuses his camera on the dark, sadistic characters and behavior that have evolved in that setting. The future Berlin of Jones' imagination is similar to 2019/2049 Los Angeles in Blade Runner. And like that movie, the "tech" is high, but it doesn't move the story. The people do. And what a bizarre "community" it is in Mute: thugs, sexual predators, torturers, AWOL American soldiers on the run from its wars that never ended, and, most bizarre of all, medics. Justin Theroux is almost unrecognizable and Paul Rudd's fans are in for a shock of humongous proportions.

It's a brutally violent movie, bordering on ridiculous during some sequences (e.g. -- spoiler alert -- a dying man takes several scenes to gurgle and bubble as the blood slowly ebbs from his body). The fact that Jones is able to successfully combine laughs, irony, and a very sympathetic hero with gore, pedophilia, and obscenities isn't to be dismissed. Definitely not for kids.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the violence in Mute. How did watching so many graphic images make you feel? Which sequences, if any, do you believe were meant to be so over-the-top that they were funny? Why is it important for families to understand the impact of violent movies on kids?

  • In the context of movies and stories, what is meant by the term "dystopian"? How is Mute an example of a dystopia? On the other hand, what is meant by the term "utopian"? If you have seen Black Panther, how is Wakanda an example of a utopia?

  • How does the art direction (sets, costumes, props) reflect the director's creative vision in Mute? How does the director use those elements to help illuminate the characters and their behavior, as well as the mood and culture of the city?

  • If you are a fan of Paul Rudd, how did you feel about his portrayal of Cactus Bill? Did it surprise you? How did his usual comedic persona add to the unexpectedness of this role?

Movie Details

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