Little Women (2019): parents' guide
Best for ages 9 and up. Rated PG for thematic elements and brief smoking.
A warm, beautifully made period drama that suits families with tweens and teens, and patient younger kids. It follows the four March sisters growing up in Civil War-era Massachusetts and the adult choices they make about love, work and money. Content is light: a few kisses and proposals, some period smoking, and a young man who drinks too much after a heartbreak. The hardest part is emotional, as one sister's long illness ends in her death, a scene that leaves many viewers in tears. Age 9 reflects that grief more than anything shown; the back-and-forth timeline may also confuse younger kids.
What's in it
Violence
MildLittle physical conflict: Jo tackles and hits her sister after a manuscript is burned, a teacher strikes Amy's hand, and Amy falls through the ice while skating before being pulled out. Their father is laid up while serving in the war, offscreen.
Language
MildPractically clean. One muttered misuse of God's name, insults such as 'idiot,' 'minx' and 'pompous blowhard,' and a remark from Aunt March likening acting to running a 'cathouse.'
Sex and nudity
MildSeveral kisses, hand-holding, longing looks and two marriage proposals. Meg wears a borrowed low-cut gown to a party, and Jo drops her outer skirt to her petticoats in front of Laurie, played innocently. No nudity.
Drinking, drugs and smoking
ModerateChampagne and beer at parties. Laurie shows up drunk to a ball with two tipsy companions and keeps drinking heavily in Europe until Amy confronts him. Men smoke cigars, and the girls pretend to smoke pipes in a play.
Scary or intense scenes
ModerateBeth's scarlet fever and later decline, with Jo fighting to keep her alive and the family grieving her death, are deeply sad. Amy's plunge through the ice is a tense moment. Sons lost in the war are mentioned.
Sensitive topics
- Death of a child
Worth talking about
Jo, Meg and Amy each pick a different path, and the film treats every one as valid. Talk with your teen about how money, marriage and ambition shaped women's choices then, and how much has changed.
On our lists
Similar picks around 9+
Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, Plugged In, the-numbers.com, 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.