What age is Finding Forrester appropriate for?

Rated PG-13 in the US. 13, alone or with a parent; 10 in France. The whole movie, watched in full: what's in it, and how to talk about it with your child.

Why is Finding Forrester not recommended under 13?

What's in it: the official rating, first; an accusation, a teacher who humiliates; bronx words; the rest. The detail, fact by fact, is in the zinema guide, which reads the work itself (images, sound, dialogue).

zinema · movies · what age

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

From 13, alone or with a parent.

Movie · 2000 · 2 h 16 · drama, history

YRS

The trailer

Alone, or with you

89101112131415161718

not yetwith an adult, or to talk about afteralone

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

Official US rating: PG-13. In France, zinema would say 10.

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

Gus Van Sant tells the story of a young African American man named Jamal who confronts his talents while living on the streets of the Bronx. He accidentally runs into an old writer named Forrester who discovers his passion for writing. With help from his new mentor Jamal receives a scholarship to a private school.

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
An accusation, a teacher who humiliatesA Black high-schooler from the Bronx is accused of cheating because he writes too well; a teacher belittles him in front of the class, and the school pushes him to choose between basketball and his dignity. It is the film's only violence, and it is verbal.
Bronx wordsSome fifty swear words, a few cigarettes; an old writer who drinks alone.
The restBasketball games that jostle, a brother and a mother who worry, a death recounted at the end.

What the movie brings

A teenager who hides his intelligence to stay in his crew, and an old man who draws it out of him.
Writing the way you play: the typewriter scene makes you want to try.
Friendship between a sixteen-year-old and a seventy-year-old recluse, without sentimentality.

Watching it together

Before

Nothing to prepare; talk afterwards about the cheating accusation, and what to do when an adult does not believe you.

After

at 13 and up

Jamal hides that he reads and writes: why, and would you do the same?

See the facts

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

Swearing●●● · shownmeasured

Visible injury, blood●●● · saidmeasured

A weapon shown or used●●○ · suggestedmeasured

A weapon shown or used●●○ · saidmeasured

A weapon shown or used●●○ · shownmeasured

Abandonment, separation, confinement●●○ · shownmeasured

Death of a character●●○ · saidmeasured

Density of dialogue●●○ · shownmeasured

Fighting, brawls●●○ · shownmeasured

Kissing, romantic gestures●●○ · shownmeasured

Smoking●●○ · shownmeasured

Tense music or sound●●○ · shownmeasured

Alcohol●○○ · saidmeasured

Drugs●○○ · saidmeasured

Frightening imagery●○○ · shownmeasured

Insults, hurtful words●○○ · shownmeasured

Pace●○○ · shownmeasured

Sexual innuendo, double meanings●○○ · shownmeasured

For the same age, on zinema

Les Parfait(s) : Arnaques en famille 10, 9 with a parent
Masterplan 17
Blücher 11, 10 with a parent
Le Château dans le ciel 11, 10 with a parent

The latest guides

Le Cinquième Élément 13
Star Wars 11, 10 with a parent
Surveillant ! 10, 9 with a parent
En fanfare 10, 9 with a parent

A zinema reading from September 19, 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