Movie · Romance, Drama, History · 1997 · PG-13

Titanic: parents' guide

13+our pick

Best for ages 13 and up. Rated PG-13 for disaster related peril and violence, nudity, sensuality and brief language.

An epic romance and disaster film best for young teens who can handle a long, harrowing sinking. The first half is a love story that includes Rose posing topless for a drawing and a steamy, mostly off-screen sex scene in a car. The last hour shows hundreds of people dying: falls, drownings, a shooting and an officer's suicide, ending with frozen bodies in the water. Early on, Rose climbs over the rail intending to jump. Expect one f-word, about a dozen s-words, and a fiancé who slaps and bullies her. The romance is tame by today's standards, but the scale of death makes it best for 13 and up.

What's in it

Violence

Moderate

Cal slaps Rose, grabs her roughly and later fires a pistol at the couple, and there are a few punches. In the sinking, people fall from great heights, are crushed by a funnel and drown; an officer shoots a passenger, with some blood, then himself.

Language

Moderate

One f-word and about a dozen s-words, plus 'damn,' 'hell,' 'bastard,' 'son of a bitch,' 'bloody,' frequent 'goddamn,' and the insults 'slut' and 'whore.' Rose also makes an obscene hand gesture.

Sex and nudity

Moderate

Rose poses nude for Jack's sketch and her bare breasts are shown; his other nude drawings are also seen. They have sex in the back seat of a car, mostly off screen, then are shown sweaty and half-dressed. Several passionate kisses.

Drinking, drugs and smoking

Moderate

Wealthy passengers drink champagne and brandy and smoke cigars. At a rowdy party below deck people drink heavily and one man is falling-down drunk; Rose drinks beer and smokes there. Jack smokes cigarettes, and an earlier attempt by Rose to smoke is cut short.

Scary or intense scenes

Strong

The sinking is over an hour of sustained panic: water flooding corridors, passengers locked behind gates, mass falls and drownings, and frozen corpses in the dark water, including a mother holding a baby. A steerage mother tucks her children into bed to await death.

Sensitive topics

  • Suicide
  • Death of a child
  • Domestic abuse

Worth talking about

Rose is pushed to marry for money to save her family's status, and first-class passengers get the lifeboats first. What does the movie say about class and who gets to survive?

Where to stream →

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Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, Plugged In, Wikipedia, movieguide.org, childrenandmedia.org.au, bbfc.co.uk, irishcentral.com, shmoop.com, Kids-In-Mind. 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.