No Country for Old Men: parents' guide

Graphic and frequent. A deputy is strangled with handcuff chains, a killer fires a cattle air gun into heads, many people are shot with blood shown, and fly-covered bodies litter a desert drug deal. A dog is shot point-blank.

Fairly light for an R film: one or two f-words (one spoken by a boy), an s-word, and scattered 'hell,' 'ass,' 'bitch' and 'goddamn,' plus a crude anatomical term.

Nothing sexual is shown. A man makes a crude remark to his wife about sex, a woman at a motel pool flirts and offers him a beer, and the killer is seen naked in a bathtub without explicit views.

A truckload of heroin and its cash drive the plot. Adults drink beer and liquor, a woman seems tipsy, the hero fakes drunkenness at the border, and the killer injects stolen medication while treating a wound.

Sustained dread. The killer's calm, coin-toss cruelty makes every encounter tense, long cat-and-mouse sequences play out in dark motels, and the film offers little comfort as major characters die. A car crash leaves a bone jutting through skin.