Better Man: parents' guide
Best for ages 17 and up. Rated R for drug use, pervasive language, sexual content, nudity and some violent content.
An inventive but very adult musical biopic of British pop star Robbie Williams, who is played as a computer-animated chimpanzee; it is for older teens only. Despite the playful premise, the film shows heroin and cocaine use, heavy drinking, a sex act, topless women and well over 100 f-words. It also deals frankly with depression, self-harm and suicidal thoughts, including a wrist-cutting scene and a reckless drive that ends in a lake. His girlfriend has an abortion under pressure from her record label, and his beloved grandmother dies. The drug use, sexual content and self-harm put it at 17.
What's in it
Violence
ModerateFantasy sequences show the singer battling monkey versions of himself, stabbing and beheading them with some blood. He wrecks a house in a rage, drives recklessly into a lake and cuts his wrist in a self-harm scene.
Language
StrongConstant strong language. One count found about 120 f-words, 17 s-words and nearly 10 uses of the c-word, plus crude British slang for body parts and rude hand gestures.
Sex and nudity
StrongA fan performs a sex act on him that is shown to completion, he is seen masturbating, women flash bare breasts, and he lies in bed with several naked women. One review notes a penis is shown. Crude sexual jokes are frequent.
Drinking, drugs and smoking
StrongDrug use is shown repeatedly: he snorts cocaine, including off a woman's chest, uses heroin, performs high and shakes through withdrawal. Underage characters get drunk, he mixes antidepressants with alcohol, and he goes to rehab.
Scary or intense scenes
StrongDisturbing images of depression and self-loathing: sneering doubles of himself haunt him, he cuts his wrist, has panic attacks and nearly drowns as phantom figures hold him under. His grandmother's death brings raw grief.
Sensitive topics
- Suicide
- Self-harm
- Addiction
- Bullying
Worth talking about
Robbie chases fame partly to win the approval of a father who left. How can needing outside approval shape someone's choices, and what finally helps him recover?
On our lists
Similar picks around 17+
Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, Plugged In, Wikipedia, movieguide.org. 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.