Parents' Guide to

The Covenant

By Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Bland horror movie is more silly than scary.

Movie PG-13 2006 97 minutes
The Covenant Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

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age 12+

Based on 2 parent reviews

helsingmusique
helsingmusique Adult
March 7, 2015
age 10+

This is a great movie, just not for everyone

The Covenant is a movie you either love or you absolutely hate. It's a thriller, it's meant more to tell a story than anything else and it does achieve that. It is a great little thriller, it isn't incredibly scary, but it is not meant to be. This movie is something you have to take for what it is, it's a movie, it's got a good background origins, they have great explanations for things that happen in the film, it connects together well. If you don't like movies about people in university, movies about the supernatural, movies that have a slower pace to take its time for the plot, or thrillers, this isn't a movie for you.
Jillanjake2
Jillanjake2 Parent of 13-year-old
April 4, 2014
age 13+
Covenant is more silly then scary it deals with the paranormal horror and sex

This title has:

Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 2 parent reviews

What's the Story?

The four coolest and most intimidating boys at Spenser Academy in Ipswich, Massachusetts share a secret: As legend has it, their ancestors were witches, accused and abused at the Salem trials, and the boys have powers. Caleb (Steven Strait) realizes that using their powers too much is dangerous: Using them too much in fact can deplete them, which happened to Caleb's 44-year-old father. So he starts to warn his friends -- Pogue (Taylor Kitsch), Reid (Toby Hemingway), and Tyler (Chace Crawford) -- to cut back on the use of their powers. A new student, Chase (Sebastian Stan), insinuates himself into the boys' group. He seems naïve and in need of protection, which Caleb offers, but it turns out Chase is the descendent of yet another witchy family, and means to suck the power out of all the other boys.

Is It Any Good?

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

More nonsensical than scary, THE COVENANT conjures a cautionary tale for prep school pretties. Chase reframes the good-bad dynamic in Ipswich: No longer is the bossy daredevil Pogue the reigning terror in town. Now Chase poses a real menace, not only to Caleb, but to all righteous witchy types, for he'll soon need to suck up their powers as well. Besides, Chase starts tormenting Caleb's crush, Sarah (Laura Ramsey), with spells and spiders, so that Caleb just has to take a stand. Or rather, he has to engage in a knockdown, drag-out hellfires-a-blazing battle at the old estate, where he and Chase throw pitchforks and plows at one another while thunder crashes.

It's lots of noise for nothing. Though director Renny Harlin knows something about putting pretty kids in danger (he made the underappreciated Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Warriors way back in 1988), here the effects look cheesy and the characters flummoxed by an incoherent script that mostly devises ways for them to throw one another against glass objects -- windows, mirrors, crates of bottles. And when that fails, they go back to leaping off cliffs.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the seductive nature of "power," whether metaphorical or literalized here. How does the movie suggest that power might be used in a positive way, as well as to prove oneself superior or to control others? How does the movie compare power to an addictive substance? You can discuss the Salem Witch Trials, jumping to conclusions, or judging people who seem different.

Movie Details

  • In theaters: September 8, 2006
  • On DVD or streaming: January 2, 2007
  • Cast: Chace Crawford, Laura Ramsey, Steven Strait
  • Director: Renny Harlin
  • Studio: Sony Pictures
  • Genre: Horror
  • Run time: 97 minutes
  • MPAA rating: PG-13
  • MPAA explanation: intense sequences of violence and action, some disturbing images, sexual content, partial nudity and language.
  • Last updated: April 4, 2023

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