What age is Drive – The Pretenders appropriate for?

Rated R in the US. 17, alone or with a parent; 12 in France. The whole movie, watched in full: what's in it, and how to talk about it with your child.

Why is Drive – The Pretenders not recommended under 17?

What's in it: a love scene, in the half-light; sexual innuendo; swearing throughout; two losses, talked about; a scuffle, and the party life. The detail, fact by fact, is in the zinema guide, which reads the work itself (images, sound, dialogue).

zinema · movies · what age

Drive – The Pretenders: what age is it for? 17, alone or with a parent

From 17, alone or with a parent.

Movie · 2026 · 1 h 43 · romance, thriller

YRS

The trailer

Alone, or with you

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

The official US rating is R, and we never go below it. Alone from 17, and not before, even with an adult.

The sweet spot: around 17, when they are starting to date and wonder what is real in the couples they see on social media. Why a sweet spot?

Official US rating: R. In France, zinema would say 12.

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

A young race car mechanic fakes an engagement with racing's most scandalous star - officially for his reputation, secretly for her own shot behind the wheel. But soon the lie threatens to destroy everything - including what's already become so much more than just a deal.

Why 17

The official rating, firstRated R in the US (restricted, under 17 requires an accompanying parent). zinema never goes below the country's rating: it explains it.
rule
A love scene, in the half-lightBack from a gala, the couple kiss, undress and make love: about twenty seconds in bed, in the half-light, bare backs and shoulders, no frontal nudity. The next morning she is asleep beside him. Two other nights are only suggested: the film opens on the driver waking up next to a stranger after a party, and later the couple wake up together under the sheets. There is a lot of kissing throughout.
shown
Sexual innuendoThe fake relationship is negotiated by contract, with humor but no beating around the bush: the reputation of a driver who "never sleeps with the same woman twice", a mother worried he will "catch something", a "sleep with whoever you want, but find another room", double meanings about "that kind of breakdown". Nothing is shown, but it is adult talk.
shown
Swearing throughoutIn the French dub, "shit" comes back about ten times and the f-word six times, with "asshole", "pissed off" and "go fuck yourself". Mostly outbursts of anger or stress.
shown
Two losses, talked aboutThe driver is mourning his sister, killed in a car crash two years earlier: people talk about it, he visits her grave, and the crash only appears in a press photo of a burning car. The heroine lost her father to a heart attack, and her family is still paying off his debts.
said
A scuffle, and the party lifeThe driver has a reputation as a partier: people talk about his nights out and the drinking, and there is drinking at the gala and at dinner. Early on, a journalist asks him about his sister, he lunges at him, and they are pulled apart at once.
shown

What the movie brings

A heroine who wants to race in a man's world and gives herself the means to do it.
A film that shows how a public image is manufactured, and what a lie costs, even a consensual one.

Watching it together

Before

Before the film, you can warn that there is a love scene and a lot of swearing, and offer to talk about it afterwards, for example about what couples show of themselves on social media.

After

at 17 and up

Was Sarah right to hide her training from Dante, and what could she have done differently?

See the facts

Brands, products, merchandising: Aston Martin, Mercedes-Benz●●● · shownmeasured

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Alcohol●●○ · shownmeasured

Death of a character●●○ · saidmeasured

Kissing, romantic gestures●●○ · shownmeasured

Sex scene, suggested or shown●●○ · shownreading

Sexual innuendo, double meanings●●○ · shownreading

Swearing●●○ · shownreading

Tense music or sound●●○ · shownmeasured

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Disaster, destruction, war●○○ · shownmeasured

Fighting, brawls●○○ · shownreading

Insults, hurtful words●○○ · shownmeasured

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Long dark scenes, night, storm●○○ · shownreading

Nudity●○○ · shownreading

For the same age, on zinema

Once Upon a Time 12, 11 with a parent
La Bataille de Gaulle : J’écris ton nom 13, 12 with a parent
Matchbox the Movie 13
Jaws 12, 11 with a parent

The latest guides

Spider-Man: Brand New Day 13
World Trade Center 13
Predator: Badlands 13
La Bataille de Gaulle - partie 1 : L'Âge de Fer 13, 12 with a parent

A zinema reading from November 2, 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