Polaroid

Movie review by Brian Costello, Common Sense Media
Polaroid Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 13+

Some violence, teen drinking in drab horror movie.

PG-13 2019 88 minutes
Rate movie

Parents say

age 12+

Based on 2 reviews

Kids say

age 11+

Based on 6 reviews

Common Sense is a nonprofit organization. Your purchase helps us remain independent and ad-free.
Rate movie

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Polaroid is a 2019 horror movie in which a teen girl finds an old camera that turns deadly to those who get their picture taken by it. There are two deaths by hanging, including a suicide, plus implied sexual abuse by a father of his daughter. A teen girl is shown getting verbally bullied in a flashback scene. A body is ripped in half, no blood or gore. Teens are shown tied up in chairs, pleading for their lives. Characters catch fire, suffer burns. There are jump scares throughout. One of the lead characters punches a police officer. Teens drink and smoke at a party. Finally, some profanity is heard, including "f--k you" which is said during a climactic scene.

Community Reviews

Kaewpit
Kaewpit Adult
March 12, 2021
age 13+

Another movie you may watch not worth to watch but not if you watch it will not waste your time

Hello everyone today I’m gonna review a horror movie name “ Polaroid 2019” I will tell you does this movie good or bad, worth to watch or not. This movie is supervised by Lars Klevberg. It is a project continuing from the same short story. From my researching, I knew that this movie was famous since 2017. Some people guess for a reason that this movie have to be terminated. But for me I guess it is because of some problem about money. But it came back and released in 2019 with rate PG-13 but wait! I think the content in movie seems like it doesn’t follow the rate that it is set. However I didn’t tell that it is an awesome movie something like that. If it got “ R rate” It should came out with something more excited. But the feeling is still good when watching and how this movie is about? The movie is gonna show a life of one girl named “Byrd” she is a teenager who is curious and a little bit shy not good at socializing. Her hobby is photography. One day she got a Polaroid camera and she knew it is a well-known camera even though it is quite a little old. She was so excited when she brought it to take a photo. However this camera came with a terror. Whoever’s taken a photo will be marked of a death sign. And they will die. The movie will tell us a story of a personages. It will make us know a character better. The movie makes us want to know what they will do next especially finding the truth of a camera and what it came from to prevent themselves from a danger from a supernatural thing. Theses are all about this movie. This movie have an interesting ideas. Moreover the movie also did things well. The casting is okay. If you want to watch a horror screen like Jigsaw or Final destination you will be disappointed. Therefore if you really want to watch a horror screen this movie might not answer your point but if you just want to have fun is still worth to watch.
pennyroyal80
pennyroyal80 Adult
March 6, 2020
age 11+

Good movie

It's a good movie but not the best. Good content, entertaining. Could not sleep through this movie. It's very fast paced. A mature 10 year old who's fine with some intense scenes could easily handle this movie.
See all 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In POLAROID, Bird (Kathryn Prescott) is an introverted teen who loves photography and works in an antique store. One day, a teen co-worker named Tyler, who has a crush on Bird, comes in to the store with a gift for Bird: an old Polaroid camera from the 1970s. She takes his picture with it before leaving for the day. Later, Bird attends a costume party with her friends and uses the camera to take a group picture. But Avery, the mean-girl hostess of the party, snatches the camera away from Bird long enough to take a selfie first. At the party, Sheriff Pembrooke (Mitch Pileggi) arrives and tells Bird that Tyler was found dead inside the antique store. Shortly after, Avery is found dead, her neck snapped. Looking at the photos taken from the camera, Bird notices a shadowy apparition in the background of each picture that transfers to the next picture after the people in the other pictures are killed. With the help of her friends Devin, Mina, and Connor (Tyler Young), Bird must find out the terrible secrets lurking within the camera, and find a way to stop it before she and her friends are also murdered.

Is It Any Good?

The entertainment value in this horror movie is, more often than not, unintentional. For instance, after the teens begin to learn that a malevolent spirit has killed two of their friends within the last 24 hours, one of the teens laments, "I mean, we shouldn't have to die just because we took a stupid picture!" The lighting in the movie seems to be almost entirely from nightlights on the "dim" setting, so much so that even a police interrogation is done practically in the dark. There's a drab darkness to practically every scene that, as Polaroid goes on, comes across as less a style choice and more of an attempt to cover up the action, or lack thereof.

The lead character is presented as an introvert who's unpopular at the local high school because she -- wait for it -- wears a scarf. The police are skeptical of the teens and their crazy story of a demon murderer who appears via a vintage camera. The opening scene has no real connection to the rest of the movie. The result is a horror movie that comes across as both trite and underdeveloped, a half-baked premise like something from an episode of Scooby-Doo.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about horror movies. How does Polaroid compare to other horror movies you've seen?

  • How does this movie attempt to rely more on suspense rather than on blood and gore to scare the audience? Is it effective? Why or why not?

  • How is lighting, or the lack thereof, used to set a style and mood in the movie? How is lighting used in other movies?

Movie Details

Our Editors Recommend

  • Lights Out Poster Image

    Lights Out

    Exceptionally simple, smart, scary monster movie.

    age 14+
  • The Sixth Sense Poster Image

    The Sixth Sense

    Great, but sometimes scarier than R-rated horror.

    age 14+
  • Insidious Poster Image

    Insidious

    Exceptionally scary flick is too intense for younger teens.

    age 15+

Themes & Topics

Browse titles with similar subject matter.

  • Cartoon picture of a ghost and vampire
    Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
    See all

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.

See how we rate