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Parents' Guide to

Private Life

By Andrea Beach, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Mature dramedy about infertility has lots of sex, cursing.

Movie R 2018 123 minutes
Private Life Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

age 17+

Based on 1 parent review

age 17+

Kathryn Hahn!!!

A realistic portrayal about the complexity of conceiving a baby with today's pressures. Heart wrenching and snippy with a side of snark. This film shows complex people in even more complex scenarios of fighting infertility. A not often talked about topic on film...great job by Kathryn Hahn and Kayli Carter...I was enraptured by both of their portrayals.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

Somewhere in this uneven two-hour movie is a better, 90-minute one waiting to get out. Private Life has a strong cast and a compelling story, but director Tamara Jenkins spends too much time on people and places that don't move the story along or tell us what we need to know about the characters. At its heart are some genuine laughs, emotional tension, and drama, but it's diluted by too much in-between stuff that doesn't really help. And the ending doesn't really satisfy, as there's no emotional payoff, just a sense that things are going to continue on as they have been for a long time.

The mature, explicit sexual content and appealing young co-star may attract teen interest, but it's not for them. Not only because of the strong content but because the movie's main focus is on the struggles of a couple in their 40s who are trying to keep their relationship together while they're on an emotionally and physically exhausting journey to parenthood.

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