What age is I Am Mother appropriate for?

Rated PG-13 in the US. 13, 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 I Am Mother not recommended under 13?

What's in it: the official rating, first; a mother who is not what she says; gunfire and blood, at times; dark and slow. The detail, fact by fact, is in the zinema guide, which reads the work itself (images, sound, dialogue).

zinema · movies · what age

I Am Mother: what age is it for? 13, alone or with a parent

From 13, alone or with a parent.

Movie · 2019 · 1 h 53 · science fiction, thriller

YRS

The trailer

Alone, or with you

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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 12.

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What it's about

A teenage girl is raised underground by a robot "Mother", designed to repopulate the earth following an extinction event. But their unique bond is threatened when an inexplicable stranger arrives with alarming news.

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 mother who is not what she saysA teenager raised alone by a robot in a bunker discovers that it burned other children before her, that the outside is not what she was told, and that a survivor with a gunshot wound lies too. The film is a chamber piece of suspicion, with many tears.
Gunfire and blood, at timesA woman arrives with a bullet wound treated without anaesthetic, armed robots, shooting and an explosion in the last part; blood fills the centre of the frame for half a minute in all.
Dark and slowA windowless bunker, corridors, tension that rises without music; no swearing, no sex, but continuous unease.

What the movie brings

Trusting the one who raised you, or the one who tells the truth: the film asks without answering too fast.
Chamber science fiction, where intelligence replaces explosions.
A heroine who must decide alone, at sixteen, what is good for humanity.

Watching it together

Before

Warn that the film frightens with ideas more than images, and that the ending needs discussing: what the girl chooses is not obvious.

After

at 13 and up

Mother says she did all this for the good of humanity: does a good reason excuse what she did?

See the facts

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

A weapon shown or used●●● · suggestedmeasured

A weapon shown or used●●● · saidmeasured

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

Visible injury, blood●●● · saidmeasured

A weapon shown or used●●○ · shownmeasured

Death of a character●●○ · saidmeasured

Disaster, destruction, war●●○ · shownmeasured

Frightening imagery●●○ · shownmeasured

Kissing, romantic gestures●●○ · shownmeasured

Pace●●○ · shownmeasured

Tense music or sound●●○ · shownmeasured

Verbal threat or intimidation●●○ · saidmeasured

Visible injury, blood●●○ · shownmeasured

Abandonment, separation, confinement●○○ · shownmeasured

Alcohol●○○ · shownmeasured

Density of dialogue●○○ · shownmeasured

Disaster, destruction, war●○○ · suggestedmeasured

Fighting, brawls●○○ · shownmeasured

Smoking●○○ · shownmeasured

Swearing●○○ · shownmeasured

For the same age, on zinema

Drive – The Pretenders 17
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

The latest guides

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