Parents' Guide to

The Danish Girl

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Great performance in fact-based transgender story.

Movie R 2015 120 minutes
The Danish Girl Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

age 16+

Based on 3 parent reviews

age 14+

It depends on the kid

I would watch through the movie and decide if your kid is mature enough to watch it my child who is 13 I thought was mature enough to watch seeing as they had had "the talk" and they enjoyed the movie and had no problems I believe we shouldn't shun kids away from things like sex it makes it seem like a forbidden fruit they want to have so I believe a solid mature 13 14 year old would benefit from the movie

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
age 16+
There is one major issue with this movie no one has addressed here, Eddie Redmayne (as much as I love his acting in this movie) should not have played Lili Elbe. Also, Gerda eventually identified as a lesbian, which should have been kept. Redmayne is a cisgender male. He's good at playing things he isn't but a trans woman should have played Lili Elbe. End of story. Redmayne is, in my opinion, a phenomenal actor. He can easily make a person laugh, cry, love, or hate his characters. This movie is a good example. At the end of the movie, I bawled like baby. He convinced me that he was Lili Elbe and that is what good actors do. The sex scenes are there but considering the length and pace of this movie, they aren't long or gratuitous. There is really, really mild violence against Lili when she first starts dressing the way she wants (as a woman but since she looks male, this is an issue.) It's terrible but it's necessary to show. There is also nudity outside of sex in this movie. Unless you'd like to see Eddie Redmayne or Alicia Vikander naked full-frontal, you might want to skip those parts or the movie entirely. It wasn't too unpleasant though. If you want to show your kids this for its essential plot, go ahead. The movie has great messages and role models. I'd recommend skipping ahead if sitting in the same room with your child during any type of nudity proves uncomfortable for you.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Too much sex

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3):
Kids say (9):

Best director Oscar-winner Tom Hooper has delivered another ready-made movie for awards season -- polite, highly polished, and perhaps a bit safe, but with another great performance by Redmayne. The star (who won the Academy Award for The Theory of Everything) achieves another complete transformation here, subtly changing from awkward to comfortable in his female identity. The Gerda role is less strong; she only gets to react to Einar/Lili, and Vikander can't fully bring her to life.

THE DANISH GIRL is somewhat disappointingly handled with kid gloves; it's soft, falling back on montages and skipping over emotional uncertainties. But Hooper (The King's Speech, Les Miserables) and cinematographer Danny Cohen mirror the main characters' artistic creations with strikingly beautiful landscapes, and Hooper adds drama with his trademark use of characters placed in odd corners of the frame. Ultimately, it has some interesting things to say about sexual identity, and it's a good stepping stone.

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.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate