The Shawshank Redemption: parents' guide

Guards beat inmates savagely, killing one new prisoner and leaving another paralyzed, and a young inmate is gunned down at night. A gang repeatedly sexually assaults the main character; the rapes happen off screen, but scenes show him cornered, beaten and threatened.

Movieguide counted 126 obscenities and 19 profanities, including many f-words, 'motherf---er,' 'asshole' and 'son of a bitch,' plus an anti-gay slur and jokes about rape.

In the opening, an adulterous couple kisses and begins to undress before the scene cuts away. New inmates are seen naked from behind, pinups decorate cells, and dialogue references oral and anal sex.

In the opening, a man drinks whiskey heavily in his car while holding a gun. Inmates smoke constantly and trade cigarettes, and a group shares beer on a rooftop.

No horror, but long stretches of cruelty and despair: solitary confinement, an elderly parolee's hanging shown on screen, a second character's suicide by gunshot with a bloody aftermath, and an escape through a sewage pipe.