What age is Arrival appropriate for?

Rated PG-13 in the US. 13, alone or with a parent; 11 in France. The whole movie, watched in full: what's in it, and how to talk about it with your child.

Why is Arrival not recommended under 13?

What's in it: the official rating, first; a daughter who dies; soldiers, a bomb, a war that threatens; two creatures in the mist. The detail, fact by fact, is in the zinema guide, which reads the work itself (images, sound, dialogue).

zinema · movies · what age

Arrival: what age is it for? 13, alone or with a parent

From 13, alone or with a parent.

Movie · 2016 · 1 h 51 · drama, science fiction, mystery

YRS

The trailer

Alone, or with you

89101112131415161718

not yetwith an adult, or to talk about afteralonethe sweet spot

The official US rating is PG-13, and we never go below it. Alone from 13, and not before, even with an adult.

The sweet spot: around 13-14, when you can follow a slow film whose meaning only comes at the end, and bear the death of a child told backwards. Why a sweet spot?

Official US rating: PG-13. In France, zinema would say 11.

Watch the trailerContinue in zinemathen where to watch it, in zinema · more trailers, and where to watch films · Where to stream itWhere to watch

What it's about

Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.

Why 13

The official rating, firstRated PG-13 in the US (parents strongly cautioned, some material may be inappropriate for children under 13). zinema never goes below the country's rating: it explains it.
rule
A daughter who diesLouise loses her teenage daughter to an incurable disease: the hospital, the bed, the goodbyes, shown in fragments from beginning to end. It is the heart of the film, and what asks for eleven rather than eight.
Soldiers, a bomb, a war that threatensSoldiers plant a bomb in the ship, the explosion kills; China threatens to attack; thirteen seconds of gunfire, weapons everywhere, nothing bloody.
Two creatures in the mistThe heptapods, seven-limbed giants behind a glass, never threatening; more than half the film in darkness, whispers, a slow tension.

What the movie brings

A science-fiction film without a battle: the suspense is understanding a language.
An idea to turn over for a long time: if you knew your whole life, would you live it anyway?
The mother and daughter: the tenderest film about grief you can show an eleven-year-old.

Watching it together

Before

Say beforehand that the little girl is ill; the explosion in the ship is brief; it is a slow film understood at the end, stay to talk about it.

After

at 13 and up

Louise knows how her daughter's life will end and chooses to have her anyway: would you have done the same?

See the facts

A weapon shown or used●●● · suggestedmeasured

A weapon shown or used●●● · saidmeasured

Death of a character●●● · shownreading

Grief, sorrow●●● · shownreading

Long dark scenes, night, storm●●● · shownmeasured

A moment that calls for a parent●●○ · suggestedmeasured

A weapon shown or used●●○ · shownmeasured

Abandonment, separation, confinement●●○ · shownmeasured

Creature, monster, strong villain●●○ · shownreading

Fighting, brawls●●○ · shownmeasured

Frightening imagery●●○ · shownmeasured

Kissing, romantic gestures●●○ · shownmeasured

Smoking●●○ · shownmeasured

Visible injury, blood●●○ · saidmeasured

Alcohol●○○ · saidmeasured

Density of dialogue●○○ · shownmeasured

Disaster, destruction, war●○○ · suggestedmeasured

Insults, hurtful words●○○ · shownmeasured

Jump scares●○○ · shownmeasured

Swearing●○○ · shownmeasured

Tense music or sound●○○ · shownmeasured

Visible injury, blood●○○ · shownmeasured

For the same age, on zinema

Les Caprices de l’Enfant Roi 12, 11 with a parent
The Mandalorian 14
Practical Magic 2 13
The Chosen 11, 10 with a parent

The latest guides

Back to the Future Part II 11, 10 with a parent
The Empire Strikes Back 11, 10 with a parent
Loups-Garous 13
Taxi 11, 10 with a parent

A zinema reading from September 21, 2026 · the whole movie, watched in full · the age by zinema's rules for the US and France, and a human reading · report an error · how this guide is made