Parents' Guide to

Unhinged

By Tara McNamara, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Crowe's violent road rage thriller has mixed messages.

Movie R 2020 91 minutes
Unhinged Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

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

Community Reviews

age 16+

Based on 9 parent reviews

age 17+

Mature Themes, Violent, 17+

I previewed this movie before letting my 15yr old watch it. I fast forwarded the beginning where a young couple live together and kiss. Later in a diner, the main character asks a lawyer if they are having sex (I skipped part of this scene for her to watch it as well). He violently kills this man. Outside of these 2 interactions, there’s no other sexual content in the movie. However, it’s shockingly violent. My 15yr old was gasping in shock and stated that her 11yr old sister should never watch it because she even she thought it was too violent. I allow for my kids to be exposed to some violence and cursing, but refrain from exposing them to sexual themes and content. I think this movie holds true to the R rating. 17+ for sure. It’s a good movie to reflect the danger of road rage and bad behavior, just not for young kids.

This title has:

Too much violence
1 person found this helpful.
age 17+

Don’t let kids anywhere near this

We had to turn off this extremely graphic and violent movie. The man is a violent maniac and the blood and gore is just disturbing. Talk to your kids about courtesy on the road and not to escalate situations in traffic, but I wouldn’t let anyone under 17 watch this. Also gives a bad message about how to handle breakups with murder and violence.

This title has:

Too much violence

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (9):
Kids say (7):

Director Derrick Borte keeps viewers on the edge of their passenger seat, revving up identifiable tension and driving through the most extreme version of a scenario many people worry about. Unhinged accesses the fear and adrenaline that lots of people experience when they're involved in any kind of confrontation with a stranger in another car. The film is essentially one long, high-stress chase, with a little cat-and-mouse action on the side. Most of its 90 minutes takes place behind the wheel, and what doesn't is bloody and murderous. It's chilling and recognizable, but it's not believable -- there's just too much that could be solved an easier way.

To enjoy the film, you can't overthink it -- but maybe you should. On face value, Unhinged revolves around a message that adults may want to share with teen drivers (or, as we see in the movie, that teens may want to share with agro-driving adults). The film offers an indelible way to say, "Hey, we should all be a little nicer on the road, and, incidentally, you never know what's going on in the life of a bad driver." But if you dig deeper, the movie's subliminal messaging -- and its timing -- is concerning. We already know that women apologize far more than men do. So to have a threatening male character continue to demand that a woman apologize -- as the driver does here -- plays into a problematic power dynamic. Curiously, both Rachel and the driver are going through divorces. Which kind of makes you wonder what, exactly, motivated Carl Ellsworth to write this screenplay, because the fact that Crowe is a murderer on a rampage is underplayed next to the fact that this is really the ultimate comeuppance for a woman. If anything, it feels like ex-husband fantasy fiction.

Movie Details

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