Parents' Guide to

The Tree of Blood

By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Story of three generations has sex, murder, drug use.

Movie NR 2018 130 minutes
The Tree of Blood Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

  • Tree of Blood Movie: Scene #1
  • Tree of Blood Movie: Scene #2
  • Tree of Blood Movie: Scene #3

Community Reviews

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age 17+

Based on 2 parent reviews

Puffauk
Puffauk Adult
April 19, 2019
age 18+
jgurlb
jgurlb Adult
March 8, 2019
age 16+

Comfort through Chaos

I personally love foreign films, and this one does not disappoint. It is complex and VERY honest in sharing the management of life's challenges. As seen in the characters, some people don't excel in that area. There is drug use, nudity, complex relations, as well as mystery and drama. Knowing European history would help viewers put things in perspective and knowing European culture would add to and explain the characters' complexities. This film is for entertainment and unless a viewer has experience with or an understanding of adult situations, there is no need to view it. The visuals are disturbing not because of how they are filmed but the reasons to add them. It is fascinating to see how the characters are developed and how the plot thickens, and in the end, leaves you with questions. Age is not always an indicator of understanding, so it is difficult for me to place a number on my recommendation. Although I suggest nothing younger than 16 by MY standards, always go by your own child's maturity and emotional stability, and always view it yourself before hand - that is the only true way to determine its appropriateness.

This title has:

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

What's the Story?

Two young lovers at the center of THE TREE OF BLOOD, Marc (Alvaro Cervantes) and Rebeca (Ursula Corbero), have arrived at his grandparents' summer home in Basque country to write the bizarre story of their intertwined families, in the hope of bringing them clarity. While the events go back as far as the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s, they begin with Rebeca's mother, Maca (Najwa Nimri), a schizophrenic former rock star who spends years in a hospital after Rebeca's birth. The birth was so complicated that the infant required two major surgeries to save her. Rebeca is raised by Maca's lover, Victor (Daniel Grao), whose parents were sent as children to Russia (to avoid the war) and recruited as Spanish spies. While caring for Rebeca and tending to Maca, Victor develops a cocaine addiction. His brother, Olmo (Joaquin Furriel), saves the life of Nuria (Lucia Delgado), Marc's orphaned mother, when he kills the murderous Georgian mafioso out to kill her. Nuria grows up to be a book editor and Victor's brother, Olmo, later marries Amaia (Patricia Lopez Arnaiz), one of Nuria's authors. Later than that, Nuria and Amaia also get married and adopt an Asian little girl. During weddings and family gatherings, Rebeca and Marc meet and fall in love, but their writing project requires honesty and Rebeca reveals her ungovernable passion for her uncle Olmo, whose checkered past is revealed along with that of his brother, Victor, and their wealthy parents. Deaths, drug use, car accidents, organ transplants, and passionate sex all play a part. Does this information break the couple apart or make them stronger?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (2):
Kids say: Not yet rated

The plot of this film is wildly absorbing but also chaotically complex, verging at times on the absurd. That it's fun to watch may be because it feels so much like a year's worth of soap opera episodes compressed into a relatively-economical 130 minutes. Over-dramatics? Check. Outlandish plot points? Check. Good-looking actors? Check. Passion, murder, drug use, sex? Check, check, check, and check. As new outrageous revelations arise, it can feel necessary, in the effort to keep everything straight, to review all the various relations. The biggest flaw, easily overlooked, is that the young lovers who move the plot along are The Tree of Blood's least interesting characters. Older teens may be the only kids with the patience to keep all the relations straight and the only ones for whom the material will be appropriate.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about secrets in families. Why do you think grownups keep secrets from children? Do you think some secrets might best never be revealed? What kind would fall into that category?

  • Do you think people who have done terrible things can be rehabilitated? Why or why not?

  • Politics plays a big role in what happened to the people in The Tree of Blood. A war sent small children for their protection to Russia, and there the children were trained to be spies. How do you think everyone's lives might have been different if not for that war? What political events today do you think may be affecting your life?

Movie Details

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