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Parents' Guide to

Serenity

By Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

A bit clunky, but entertaining sci-fi.

Movie PG-13 2005 119 minutes
Serenity Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

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age 14+

Based on 5 parent reviews

Linda N.
Linda N. Adult
September 8, 2021
age 16+

Great continuation of the series, but not for kids.

This isn't family fare like Star Wars. The central theme involves scary space cannibals. The violence is gritty and intense. One main character is a futuristic prostitute. It's a great story about family and standing up for what's right, just not for kids. (---SPOILERS---) A key plot point involves them strapping the bodies of their friends to the outside of the ship to fool the space cannibals. Two characters talk openly of having sex. There's a medical scene at the beginning that contains disturbing imagery. At least one creepy jump scare.

This title has:

Great messages
Too much violence
Too much sex
Annika G.
Annika G. Adult
May 28, 2018
age 14+

Good movie but has horror & sex

Good movie, but would not recommend for less than 14 years of age. I read the reviews in common sense, and nobody mentioned that there is going to be inappropriate intimate scene. So here it is. Almost in the end the man talks about his regret and the girl says , "sex" and in the end they are making out and go to the floor insinuation is that they are doing it, The horror part, is the cannibal people, their faces are scary, and when they attack, my 12 year old got scared.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
See all 5 parent reviews

What's the Story?

500 years from now, humans are colonizing space, terraforming planets in far-flung solar systems, jumpstarting civilizations in their own image, and wreaking havoc based on assumed values and prerogatives. Two sides have formed amid the expansion, the mighty Universal Alliance and the scrappy independents. The Alliance is not only interested in colonizing worlds, but also minds and bodies. A prominent experiment along these lines is River (Summer Glau), an extra-sensitive telepath, brainwashed in Alliance classrooms as a child, then electro-refitted in an Alliance lab until her brain essentially blew out. She wears gauzy goth dresses and teeters between anxious passivity and deadly accuracy, able to climb walls, cling to ceilings, break bones when "weaponized." Her brother Simon (Sean Maher) rescues her from the lab, and they take refuge on the Serenity, a ship captained Mal (Nathan Fillion). His crew -- tough guy Jayne (Adam Baldwin), warrior Zoe (Gina Torres), her partner and ship's pilot Wash (Alan Tudyk), and mechanic Kaylee (Jewel Staite) -- worry that they are carrying these risky (paying) passengers, as the Alliance is sure to track them down.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (5 ):
Kids say (15 ):

SERENITY makes the future quite like the present, and that's not a bad thing. Though occasionally clunky in structure and execution (some images reportedly culled from unused footage from Joss Whedon's TV series Firefly, from which the storyline and characters are drawn), the movie is entertaining and the dialogue often witty.

Styled like cowboys, Mal's team resists the Alliance for all the right reasons. If the brutal, brave, confused adolescent is a favorite trope for Whedon and his fans, the tormented but also irredeemably fated River is also here a sign of resistance to conventional thinking. River's telepathy -- which makes her (seem) crazy and grants her way too much information pertaining to everyone around her -- is related thematically to the film's most idealistic notion, that media exposure -- via a character with access to all angles of dissemination, Mr. Universe (David Kurmholtz) -- might save the 'verse.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the various loyalties revealed in various pairings and groups of characters: brother and sister, romantic couples, devotion to causes and communities as ideals. How does River's wrestling with her training and instinct as a "weapon" serve as counterpoint for the Operator, who sees himself as a "monster" but also believes in his mission to commit murder and mayhem, as a means to eventual peace?

Movie Details

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.

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