Cult sequel leans into sexism, stereotypes, and language.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 16+?
Any Positive Content?
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Next Friday is the second movie in a trilogy of ensemble comedies set in South Central Los Angeles, written by and starring rapper Ice Cube. Expect extremely raunchy humor and misogyny, plus comic violence, including fistfighting and lots of guns. Women are portrayed as overly sexualized, violent, or in need of a savior. Dialogue is filled with sex talk, drug talk, and nonstop profanity ("f--k," "s--t," etc.), as well as sexual innuendos ("tig ole bitties"). Women with fuller figures are called "fat-ass bitch," and the "N" word is used by Black characters. There are lots of racial stereotypes—Black men are ex-cons, Latino men are gangsters—and characters frequently smoke weed and use drugs.
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Language
a lot
Constant language includes "bitch," "ass," "motherf----r," "f--k," "damn," "bulls--t," "s--t," and "goddamn." References to "t--ties," "coochie," "sack," "p---y," and phrases like "beat your meat." Cursing in Spanish. Frequent use of the "N" word by Black characters.
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Characters frequently roll and smoke marijuana and get high, even at work. Characters also drink cognac and wine and mention a bong, rehab, and cocaine. A dog is fed a weed brownie and is shown high.
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Characters kiss, lick, and grope one another. A couple is shown in their sex den, one person draped over a whipping post dressed in leather masks, ball gags, and chaps (butts are exposed). A sex swing is shown next to a cabinet full of dildos and sex toys. A character rips off his pants, exposes his thong, and calls his genitals "Little Johnny." At a party, people undress down to their underwear, fondle one another, give lap dances, and relax in their bras. A dog humps a character's leg and leaves something behind. Pornographic posters and magazines show partially nude women (breasts with covered nipples). A video plays of a character groping her own breasts. A used condom is pulled from a hot tub.
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Comic violence, including fistfighting and lots of guns, but no blood. Characters break out of jail and hunt people down. Police officers raid a home with guns drawn. One character continuously falls while trying to ride a skateboard (no visible injury). A pit bull chases down and bites people. A character keys someone's car and throws bricks through his windows. A character is sprayed in the face with mace and then waterboarded—played for humor.
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Visible brands include Waste Management, BMW, Hustler magazine, FUBU, Pacific Bell, Cadillac, and Versace. Mentions of Viagra, Slauson Swap Meet, Carl's Jr., Twinkie, and posters for Mack 10, Snoop Dogg, and Wu-Tang Clan.
Positive Messages
none
The film has sexism and stereotypes and shows that problems should be solved with violence. No real consequences for any negative actions.
Positive Role Models
none
Characters smoke often (including at work), break into one another's homes, demean women, and slap people weaker than them.
Diverse Representations
Flagged for concern
Black and Latino leads were a little complex in the first film, but no longer. Here, Black men are unemployed or living off of mismanaged lotto funds. Latino men are ex-con gangsters who lord over the women around them. One character mocks a Middle Eastern accent while pretending to work for 7-Eleven, while another makes a joke about riding magic carpets. Characters mock their Korean neighbor, Ms. Ho, who speaks in a thick accent, sells dope, and relieves their pain by walking on their backs. An African customer wears a dashiki and haggles over prices. The only hardworking blue collar worker is portrayed as unintelligent. Women are either damsels in distress, overly sexualized, or loud and violent Black women. Rampant fat-shaming: Characters are called "fat-ass bitch," told to "drink light beer," "call Jenny Craig," etc. One villain falls into disabled stereotypes, having a lazy eye that other characters threaten to "straighten out." Behind the camera, the director is a White man, and the two screenwriters are Black men.
This is the sequel to Friday, in which Craig (played by Ice Cube, who co-wrote the screenplay) spent the day smoking pot and beating up the neighborhood bully. In NEXT FRIDAY, the bully breaks out of prison and is looking for revenge, so Craig goes off to the suburbs to stay with his uncle, who bought a house with money he won in a lottery. Craig, again, spends the day smoking pot—with his Uncle Elroy (Don Curry) and Elroy's girlfriend (Kym Whitley), as well as Elroy's son, Day-Day (Mike Epps), and his friend from work (before they get fired). When they have to raise $3,600 to pay off delinquent property taxes, they hatch a plan to steal it from some vicious drug dealers across the street.
This lazy and misogynistic movie promotes pot, unemployment, and burglary. But if audiences don't take drug use, crime, racism, and sexism too seriously, Next Friday provides raunchy humor that might be worth a laugh. Almost every joke in the movie is taken from another movie, but the cast enjoys them so much that they occasionally make it work.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how Next Friday portrays women. How did you feel about the women in the film? Did any of them seem like strong characters, or were they stereotyped?
Craig, Roach, and Day-Day smoke and use drugs on the job. What consequences did they face? What are other negative consequences of drug use?
How did the film's language make you feel? Did it add anything to the experience?
MPAA explanation
:
strong language, drug use and sexual content
Last updated
:
February 12, 2026
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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
