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Parents' Guide to

Surrogates

By Renee Longstreet, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Edgy sci-fi thriller is very violent; not for tweens/kids.

Movie PG-13 2009 88 minutes
Surrogates Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

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age 13+

Based on 10 parent reviews

undertakernumber1fan
undertakernumber1fan Adult
April 17, 2011
age 13+

this move is a great cure for insomnia

this movie was a snore fest i kept thinking it was going to get better but it never did. total waste of 2 hours of my life. there is some gore so you might want to leave the youngster at home. older teen probably are ok. this move is a great cure for insomnia

This title has:

Too much violence
xomakeupxo
xomakeupxo Adult
January 26, 2010
age 17+

interesting movie

I loved the plot of this movie I thought it was very good very interesting. It's worth seeing and I would even watch it a second time. I did think it was violent in some thing but mostly action. There were some sexual scenes we could have done without I mean considering these people could make their surrogates look like whatever they want and do whatever they want them to do it could have gotten way more out of hand so it wasn't too bad. This movie is a thriller one you have to piece things together and try and figure it out so if you like those kinds of movies you'll like this.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Great messages
See all 10 parent reviews

What's the Story?

SURROGATES is set in a future in which most human beings ("operators") avoid relationships, activity, interaction, and participation in the simple act of living by isolating themselves in their homes and conducting their daily "public" lives via automated, perfect-looking, nearly indestructible robots known as "surries." Using their own surrogates, FBI Agent Tom Greer (Bruce Willis) and his partner are ordered to investigate the murder of the son of the mastermind of surrogate technology, Dr. Lionel Canter (James Cromwell). When Greer's own surry is destroyed, the real -- and now much more vulnerable -- FBI agent is forced from the insular safety of his operator's lair into the city streets. Efforts to solve the crime find Greer joining a contingent of the very few people who find the surrogate world unequivocally wrong. These hold-outs ("meatbags"), led by The Prophet (Ving Rhames), have been banished to reservations, where they attempt to counter the quietly menacing forces that have a hold on humanity.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (10 ):
Kids say (10 ):

This movie about humanity's disconnect feels soulless and shallow, even disconnected itself. Using a graphic novel by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele as source material, director Jonathan Mostow and the screenwriters work hard to examine society's blind acceptance of the mechanization that's rapidly gaining on us -- and to reveal its dangers. Unfortunately, while the movie offers some intriguing visuals and imaginative and skillful action sequences -- along with an interesting premise -- the film is undone by wooden performances, a less-than-subtle message, twists that are easy to spot, and some ludicrous motivation. And a subplot about Greer's failing relationship with his wife after the death of their son is melodramatic and very thin.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the movie's violence. Does it have less impact because most of the victims are technically robots? Does the fact that they look more human than machine affect your reaction?

  • What is the movie saying about technology? Can you think of ways that technology could inhibit your active participation in life around you? Is there a way to safeguard against that?

  • All of the surrogates seem to be extremely beautiful, handsome, and very fit. What is the movie saying about how we see ourselves and the value we place on outward appearances?

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