1917: parents' guide
Best for ages 16 and up. Rated R for violence, some disturbing images, and language.
A gripping World War I thriller for teens who can handle constant tension and grim images, filmed to look like one continuous shot. Two young British soldiers must cross enemy territory in a single day to deliver a message that could save 1,600 men, including one soldier's brother. There is less battle gore than in many war films, but the journey passes rotting corpses, dead horses and badly wounded men, with shootings, a bloody stabbing and a strangling. Expect more than a dozen f-words. There is no sex. We suggest 16 for the realistic violence, disturbing images and nonstop peril.
What's in it
Violence
StrongRealistic and sometimes bloody: soldiers are shot, stabbed and caught in explosions, a man is strangled, and a stabbing victim bleeds heavily. A pilot is pulled from a burning plane, and wounded men have missing limbs and exposed bone.
Language
StrongPlugged In counted more than a dozen f-words, at least three s-words and over 20 uses of bloody, plus bastard, bugger, bollocks, piss and misuse of God's and Jesus' names.
Sex and nudity
MildNo sex or nudity. Soldiers joke crudely about masturbation, and a young woman shares a brief, tender moment with a soldier.
Drinking, drugs and smoking
ModerateSoldiers smoke cigarettes and a pipe and drink from flasks. A drunk soldier vomits in the street, and an officer flicks liquor on men in a mocking blessing.
Scary or intense scenes
StrongUnrelenting tension as the men cross no-man's-land and abandoned trenches and dodge enemy soldiers in a ruined town. Decaying bodies and corpses on barbed wire appear often, and one soldier's hand plunges into a dead body.
Sensitive topics
- Animal death
Worth talking about
The two soldiers set out on the mission for different reasons. What keeps someone going in terrible circumstances, and what does the film show about the cost of war for young men?
On our lists
Similar picks around 16+
Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, Plugged In, bbfc.co.uk, the MPA. The age is our judgment, not an official rating, and every family draws its lines differently: read the notes, not just the number. Spotted something we missed? Tell us. How we rate.