Fire Island: parents' guide
Best for ages 17 and up. Rated R for strong sexual content, language throughout, drug use and some nudity.
An explicit adult rom-com best saved for older teens at the earliest. A group of gay friends spend a hard-partying week on Fire Island in a modern spin on Pride and Prejudice. It is funny and warm about chosen family, but sex is shown and discussed constantly, including oral sex and a hookup that is secretly filmed and posted online without consent, alongside frequent f-words, heavy drinking, and pills taken without knowing what they are. The friends also face racist and body-shaming remarks. We suggest 17 and up for the sexual content and drug use.
What's in it
Violence
MildVery little: a few comic falls without injury, and during a fumbled hookup one man accidentally hits another in the nose, which sets off a heated public argument. The most hurtful moments are verbal, not physical.
Language
StrongConstant strong language: frequent f-words and s-words, slurs and insults, and a steady stream of graphic sexual vocabulary and jokes.
Sex and nudity
StrongSex is shown and described throughout: one man performs oral sex on another, a character walks in on men having intercourse, and a man secretly films a hookup and posts it online without his partner's consent. Many men wear skimpy swimwear or underwear, some bottomless.
Drinking, drugs and smoking
StrongA week of partying with heavy drinking that leads to vomiting and hangovers. Characters swallow pills and other substances without knowing what they are, one smokes a joint, and Molly, G and ketamine are mentioned.
Scary or intense scenes
MildLittle to scare. Friends who wander off after taking drugs go missing for a while before turning up, and there are painful moments of rejection and humiliation.
Sensitive topics
- Racism
Worth talking about
The friends call themselves a chosen family: where do people find belonging, and how can racism and pecking orders show up even inside a community that feels like home?
On our lists
Similar picks around 17+
Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, Wikipedia, the MPA, Plugged In, moviemom.com, screenwiseapp.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.