The Hateful Eight

Movie review by Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media
The Hateful Eight Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 18+

Extreme violence, language in Tarantino's clever western.

R 2015 182 minutes
Rate movie

Parents say

age 17+

Based on 31 reviews

Kids say

age 15+

Based on 35 reviews

Common Sense is a nonprofit organization. Your purchase helps us remain independent and ad-free.
Rate movie

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.

A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight is a Western that promises -- and delivers -- extremely strong violence and language. Characters use guns, and tons of blood splatters, sprays, and oozes everywhere. A female character is punched in the face several times, knives and poison are used (victims of the latter vomit blood), and there are many dead bodies. In a flashback, a man who's shown full-frontally naked is forced to perform oral sex on another man. Language includes countless uses of the "N" word, "f--k," and "motherf----r," plus plenty of other words. Characters smoke cigarettes and pipes (accurate for the era) and drink whisky and brandy.

Community Reviews

Claudio B.
Claudio B. Adult
January 27, 2023
age 18+

Very gross movie, a complete waste of time, really bad role models, I really dislike unnecessary nudist scenes, and the low values and moral of the characters. The movie doesn't show anything educational for kids. Parents need to understand that this movie is definitely for people over 18 year old; even if you try to show the worse of society, there are other movies that explain similar problems in better ways. Tarantino has much better movies, and because a movie has been made by a famous director, it doesn't mean that is a great movie. I am reviewing the movie not Tarantino. I would not recommend this film to any audience.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much swearing
1 person found this helpful.
Marlena S.
Marlena S. Adult
March 5, 2018
age 18+

disgusting - nothing may justify this

Definitely not for kids or teens! Not for most adults even. Starts off great, promises a tense mystery, and then suddenly boils down to an uninspired massacre. Well, I expected over-the-top violence at some points, but there are scenes and images here that are so sick and diabolical that it's just better to pass on this movie. Three examples (spoilers) ahead: 1) the infamous male oral sex scene - no comments; 2) two half-dead guys using their (presumably) last moments to hang a half-dead woman ("'cause she doesn't deserve to die from a bullet"); 3) when you finally learn who the "bad" bad guys are, this is not enough - you'll get to watch a very lenghty flasback of them arriving on spot earlier that day and killing a bunch of innocent people in cold blood (most victims begging for mercy in a puddle of blood before they die) - and what's the point of that in terms of the plot? And this is the worst thing - the whole movie is so pointless that it hurts. It was probably meant as pure "entertainment" but it stops being even that somewhere in the middle.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
1 person found this helpful.
See all 31 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Bounty hunter John Ruth (Kurt Russell) transports his prisoner, Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh), via stagecoach to Red Rock, just ahead of a brutal snowstorm. Along the way, they encounter two stranded travelers: fellow bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) and the soon-to-be-appointed sheriff of Red Rock, Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins). When the storm overtakes them, the group shelters in Minnie's Haberdashery, where four more strangers await. Some of them seem to have a mysterious, perhaps deadly agenda, and not everyone is telling the truth. When one of them poisons the coffee, things take a turn for the worse, and a showdown is imminent.

Is It Any Good?

Tarantino's eighth movie is long, moving inevitably toward an expected, brutally violent climax -- but along the way the colorful characters and playful dialogue provide a twisted good time. The one-room pressure-cooker setting, plus the presence of Michael Madsen and Tim Roth, may remind viewers of Reservoir Dogs, which can be both good and bad. That film's clever, sinister structure left audiences wanting more, whereas the lengthy, bonkers THE HATEFUL EIGHT gives up everything (and the kitchen sink).

Which isn't to say that it's not a lot of fun; it has surprises up its sleeve, and, as simple as the premise/set-up all seems, the characters' motivations are often deliberately deceptive. Long dialogue sequences exist for the sheer joy of their sound and rhythm but are also sometimes used as sleight-of-hand. Tarantino also uses music (by Ennio Morricone) and silence to brilliant effect; that, plus the infectious character performances makes this truly killer entertainment.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about The Hateful Eight's extreme violence. What effect does it have? Is it exciting? Gruesome? Do different types of violence have a different impact on viewers?

  • Why do you think the movie has such a pervasive use of the "N" word? What effect does hearing it so often have? Do you think Tarantino is trying to say something by having the characters use it so much?

  • Are any of these characters likable? How can such despicable people be interesting? How do they compare to characters in other Tarantino movies?

  • What's the appeal of the Western genre? Why do you think it's less popular today than it once was? Could it make a comeback?

Movie Details

Our Editors Recommend

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