Anomalisa: parents' guide
Best for ages 17 and up. Rated R for strong sexual content, graphic nudity and language.
An adults-only stop-motion drama, not a family pick despite the puppets. A lonely, depressed author of customer-service books spends a night in a Cincinnati hotel, where everyone he meets has the same face and voice, until he meets a woman who sounds different. The R is earned: a long, graphic sex scene that includes oral sex, full-frontal nudity of a man and a woman, a brief shot of a man masturbating, and frequent f-words. There is no violence, but the mood is bleak and the married hero cheats without consequence. Best kept for about 17 and up.
What's in it
Violence
NoneNone. There are no fights, weapons or injuries; the only conflict is verbal, including a rambling, angry breakdown during a public speech.
Language
StrongFrequent strong language: Movieguide counted around 49 obscenities, most of them f-words, plus s-words, 'goddamn,' 'asshole,' 'bitch' and 'dick,' and God's name used as an exclamation.
Sex and nudity
StrongA long, graphic sex scene between the married hero and a woman he just met, with undressing, nudity and oral sex. Full-frontal male and female nudity, a brief shot of a man masturbating at a computer, and a sex-toy shop.
Drinking, drugs and smoking
ModerateThe hero drinks several vodka cocktails over the night and gets noticeably drunk, and he smokes cigarettes. Two other characters drink at the hotel bar and get tipsy. No drug use.
Scary or intense scenes
MildNo horror, but an unsettling nightmare in which hotel staff who all share one face try to keep him there and part of his face comes loose. The loneliness and despair are heavy throughout.
Worth talking about
Michael comes to see even the one person who seemed special as just like everyone else. Ask your teen whether that says more about the world or about him, and how loneliness can change the way we see people.
On our lists
Similar picks around 17+
Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, movieguide.org, the MPA, Wikipedia, moviemom.com. 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.