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Parents' Guide to

Severance

By Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

Bloody horror-comedy takes aim at office politics.

Movie R 2007 96 minutes
Severance Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

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age 17+

Based on 2 parent reviews

Tony Cusack
Tony Cusack Parent of 7 and 10-year-old
October 6, 2022
age 18+
One graphic bear trap and LOT of gore, 35 languge and drug reference. No kids and there is also sexual content

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
callofduty5
callofduty5 Adult
May 12, 2010
age 15+

PERFECT FOR 15+!

To be honest i really like this movie... it has few good jokes and few scary scenes its a nice horror movie for mature audiences it has few disturbing scenes like the one where man loses his leg on bear trap or the scene where woman gets burned only disgusting ones however its no hostel or saw. worth of money watch not for teens but for mature audiences 15+

This title has:

Too much violence
Great messages
Great role models
See all 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Traveling by bus to a retreat in the Eastern European woods, the Palisade Defence sales team cheers their latest pitch for \"anti-personnel devices you can rely on\" and looks forward to their chance to \"find out about ourselves.\" Just then, they're abandoned by their driver, who's spooked by the scary woods. Resourceful in spite of their designer suits and Yuppie suitcases, the team members make their way to their appointed lodge. Not expecting to have to endure anything worse than a game of paintball, they soon learn they're under attack by someone using real weapons. The masked, looming, implacable assailants remain unidentified (possibilities include escaped asylum inmates and war criminals), but the sales team ends up bonding under their extreme duress. Although team leader Richard (Tim McInnerny) does his best to keep his troops motivated, they're soon wobbling between fear and despair, until at last they're inspired by desperation.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2 ):
Kids say (2 ):

A rowdy horror-comedy combo, SEVERANCE takes dual aim at global arms dealing and mundane office politics. Director Chris Smith's movie is at once gleeful and graphic (the joke extends to a mock Web site extolling the firm's motto: "We're hitting a home run for freedom and giving terrorism a time out!"). No one on the team looks a likely hero: Steve (Danny Dyer) gets high on mushrooms, social-minded Jill (Claudie Blakley) seems like a poor fit for the company, and executive assistant Billy (Babou Ceesay) is African American --- and thus, according to the rules of this spoofy genre picture, doomed.


Though she initially looks wan and self-interested, it's Maggie (Laura Harris, the sweet-looking blond terrorist from Season 2 of 24) who ultimately proves angry and resilient, exhorting her colleagues to fight back ... even when one loses his leg in a bear trap, another is burned alive by a flamethrower, and others are subjected to horrific torture. While the survivors begin to show gumption, the killers remain dark, lurking, cartoonish incarnations of existential payback for the arms dealers' crass profiteering. The point may not be subtle, but it is fairly satisfying (arms dealers are, after all, pretty easy to hate). Although Severance's lost-in-the-woods terror is a familiar plot premise, it offers clever dialogue, sharp performances, and some outrageous gross-out humor. And while it's not for the faint of heart, it is, in the end, strangely heartening.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about whether this is a comedy, a horror movie, or both. What is it making fun of? What makes those topics good material for a black comedy? Can you think of other movies and TV shows that mock office politics? What about other movies that combine humor and violence? Is it OK to laugh at bloody wounds and brutal killings?

Movie Details

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