Superbad: parents' guide
Best for ages 16 and up. Rated R for pervasive crude and sexual content, strong language, drinking, some drug use and a fantasy/comic violent image - all involving teens.
A raunchy high-school comedy for older teens, and one many parents will want to preview first. Two best friends, weeks from graduation, spend one chaotic day and night trying to buy alcohol for a party in hopes of hooking up. Nearly every line is about sex, and the f-word is used constantly. A brief porn clip, crude drawings of penises, drunken near-hookups with partly undressed teens, nonstop underage drinking and adults snorting cocaine are all shown. Underneath, it is a sweet story about a friendship facing change. Age 16 reflects the pervasive sexual content, language and drinking.
What's in it
Violence
ModerateComic but sometimes bloody: a robber knocks a teen down at a liquor store, a party fight leaves bloody wounds, a teen is hit by a car, and a daydream shows a guard slashing a boy's throat with blood spurting.
Language
StrongNear-constant profanity: one counted review tallied nearly 200 f-words and about 75 s-words, plus nonstop crude slang for genitals and misuse of God's name.
Sex and nudity
StrongGraphic sex talk is nearly nonstop. A magazine shows bare breasts, a laptop briefly plays explicit porn, and many drawings of erect penises appear. Twice, drunk, partly undressed teens start to have sex but stop. A dance partner's period blood stains a boy's pants.
Drinking, drugs and smoking
StrongThe plot is built around getting alcohol for an underage party; teens drink, shotgun beers and get drunk. Two on-duty police officers drink and then drive. Adults at a party snort cocaine and smoke marijuana, and teens smoke cigarettes.
Scary or intense scenes
MildNot scary. Brief peril includes a liquor store robbery, a teen being hit by a car and a police chase, all played for laughs.
Worth talking about
Seth's plan to get girls drunk so they will hook up is treated as a joke, but Evan stops when the girl he likes is too drunk. Talk about why that choice matters and what consent requires.
On our lists
Similar picks around 16+
Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, Plugged In, moviemom.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.