Parents' Guide to Yara

Movie NR 2021 96 minutes
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Common Sense Media Review

JK Sooja By JK Sooja , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 15+

True-crime thriller has violence, language.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 15+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 10+

Based on 1 kid review

What's the Story?

In YARA, investigator and prosecutor Letizia Ruggeri (Isabella Ragonese) is determined to solve a case of a missing 13-year-old girl. Based on the true story that shook Italy in late 2010, this thriller details the police work, advancements in DNA technology, and public help that all led to identifying Massimo Giuseppe Bossetti as Yara's killer, since convicted.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say : Not yet rated
Kids say ( 1 ):

Taught and with pace, this true-story crime thriller dramatizes the hunt for Yara Gambirasio's killer in a straightforward fashion. Most of Yara concerns itself with getting to the next piece of information or the next aspect of development, and this drive to complete its story can sometimes feel rushed. And while the film's acting is solid and scene composition pretty, sometimes it feels like there aren't actual people behind the characters. They each fulfill a role in the story, and only that, without having or showing any deeper histories, depth, or interesting relationships with other characters.

The film does try to establish some emotive parallel between Letizia and Yara's mother, as Letizia also has a young daughter to worry about, but these brief moments when Letizia worries over her daughter feel forced and detract from the drive of the movie's primary purpose: how did they finally find Yara's killer, and whether or not he ended up paying for his crime.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about violence in thriller movies. Was the violence in Yara respectfully done? How did you feel watching the recreations of the killer stalk, chase, and kill his victim?

  • Do you think the killer would have been caught without the help of technology or the public? Why or why not?

  • Despite all the evidence, Massimo Giuseppe Bossetti continues to proclaim his innocence. Are you convinced they got the right person? Why or why not?

Movie Details

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