Parents' Guide to

The Red Pill

By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Unbalanced docu about men's rights movement.

Movie NR 2017 117 minutes
The Red Pill Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

age 13+

Based on 33 parent reviews

age 13+

Excellent film

This is a wonderful and balanced documentary and I think whoever put together the "expert review" on this site should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. Do you really think it is in any way balanced to write a review peppered with words such as "venomous", "rabid" and "masquerade"? I find it quite bizarre that you think that Cassie Jaye "doesn't question" when the entire film presents her struggling with her own transformation - what do you think was meant by her saying "there is still some doubt" at the end of the film? If one makes a film about men's rights, they are not obligated to have to talk about women's right. Not doing so does not negate the existence of women's issues - it simply means that issues for men and women coexist and are not mutually exclusive, which is what your review appears to imply. I have a 5 year old daughter, by the way, so I am deeply personally invested in ensuring women are safe and are not prevented from achieving because of who they are (as you can see, one can actually care for both). Also, you cannot actually make a film and "give all the necessary facts" - this would make the film last longer than the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Or is it just that you can't stand anyone voicing any criticism against the feminist movement? But your questions for discussion section towers it all. "What does it mean to be a feminist? Why do you think so many people misunderstand or misuse the term?" It reminds me of some communist jokes from Russia I once heard, in the vein of "Who is your role model and why Stalin?" - in other words, why suggest a discussion or debate with children when you've already decided on the answer? Outside of the issue at hand (feminism), I cannot think of a more patronising approach to one's own children. Luckily, judging from the Kids Say section of the reviews, they seem to have more sense than the "expert reviewer". I think your review is not a review of the film, it's just a review (a restatement, rather) of your own opinion. You didn't like what Cassie Jaye is trying to do in the film, tried to present your opinion as a film review and thought we wouldn't notice. Well, we did.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
1 person found this helpful.
age 10+

Great film, terrible expert review

SHAME ON THE PERSON WHO WROTE THE WEBSITE’s REVIEW OF THE FILM! The paid review by the employee is false and misleading. No matter who or what you are, your feelings and experience is valid. To subjectively undermine something that speaks out about an individual’s access or rights by favoring another side you are preventing viewers to approach a subject with an open mind. IF A GROUP OF PEOPLE ARE NOT GIVEN THEIR JUSTICE IN DUE COURSE THEN IT IS A TRAVESTY. Speaking from someone who was both physically and sexually assaulted by their spouse and was not given proper justice.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (33):
Kids say (5):

This documentary tries to masquerade as a serious and fair look at the men's rights movement, but it doesn't give all the necessary facts. The information that documentarian Cassie Jaye omits here speaks volumes. She seems to accept everything her men's rights advocates say in The Red Pill but doesn't question what they write when her camera isn't trained on them.

While the men's rights interviewees are polite and soft-spoken, Jaye offers rabid "feminists" spewing venomous curse words in contrast. Jaye also fails to note that most of the MRM complaints are basically economic in nature and based on policies set by corporations run by men (95 percent of all CEOs) and legislative America (80 percent of all U.S. Congress members). She could easily have noted that published studies say that in 15 developed countries, men have died younger for two centuries, but, notably, since the 1970s -- when feminist ideas first began to take hold -- the gender gap in life expectancy has actually narrowed. Could feminism be good for men's health? While well-intentioned, this movie would be much better with the balanced information that's necessary to cover this complex and worthy subject of inquiry fairly.

Movie Details

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