What age is Man on Wire appropriate for?

Rated PG-13 in the US. 13, alone or with a parent; 9 in France. The whole movie, watched in full: what's in it, and how to talk about it with your child.

Why is Man on Wire not recommended under 13?

What's in it: the official rating, first; the void, recounted for ninety minutes; a heist told like a crime film. The detail, fact by fact, is in the zinema guide, which reads the work itself (images, sound, dialogue).

zinema · movies · what age

Man on Wire: what age is it for? 13, alone or with a parent

From 13, alone or with a parent.

Movie · 2008 · 1 h 34 · documentary

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 PG-13, and we never go below it. Alone from 13, and not before, even with an adult.

The sweet spot: around 13, the age at which four hundred metres means something and the planning becomes as gripping as the walk. Why a sweet spot?

Official US rating: PG-13. In France, zinema would say 9.

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What it's about

On August 7th 1974, French tightrope walker Philippe Petit stepped out on a high wire, illegally rigged between New York's World Trade Center twin towers, then the world's tallest buildings. After nearly an hour of performing on the wire, 1,350 feet above the sidewalks of Manhattan, he was arrested. This fun and spellbinding documentary chronicles Philippe Petit's "highest" achievement.

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
The void, recounted for ninety minutesThe film rests on a single question, will he fall, and keeps asking it throughout. The crossing itself exists only in photographs; there is no film of the walk. Witnesses describe thinking it was a suicide when they looked up. Nobody is hurt, nobody dies, and the story ends in a smiling arrest.
A heist told like a crime filmFake identity cards, reconnaissance trips, accomplices who back out, a night spent under a tarpaulin metres from a guard: the preparation is staged like a burglary. There is a lot of smoking, as period footage requires. One shot of Philippe Petit naked from behind.

What the movie brings

A lesson in preparation: six years, models, rehearsals, for forty-five minutes.
Footage of the Twin Towers under construction and in use, which today's children have only ever seen in ruins.
The idea that a gratuitous act can be the most important thing in a life, argued without a word of explanation.

Watching it together

Before

If the child knows what happened to the towers, they will ask; the film never mentions it and the answer is yours to give.

After

at 13 and up

He risked everything for something useless: why do we find it beautiful anyway?

See the facts

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

Pace●●● · shownmeasured

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

A weapon shown or used●●○ · suggestedmeasured

A weapon shown or used●●○ · shownmeasured

Abandonment, separation, confinement●●○ · shownmeasured

Density of dialogue●●○ · shownmeasured

Fighting, brawls●●○ · shownmeasured

Frightening imagery●●○ · shownmeasured

Jump scares●●○ · shownmeasured

Smoking●●○ · saidmeasured

Smoking●●○ · shownmeasured

A weapon shown or used●○○ · saidmeasured

Alcohol●○○ · saidmeasured

Alcohol●○○ · shownmeasured

Death of a character●○○ · shownreading

Disaster, destruction, war●○○ · suggestedmeasured

Drugs●○○ · saidmeasured

Insults, hurtful words●○○ · shownmeasured

Kissing, romantic gestures●○○ · shownmeasured

Nudity●○○ · shownreading

Suicide, suicidal thoughts●○○ · saidreading

Swearing●○○ · shownmeasured

Tense music or sound●○○ · shownmeasured

Verbal threat or intimidation●○○ · saidmeasured

For the same age, on zinema

Percy Jackson and the Olympians 9, 8 with a parent
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew 9, 8 with a parent
God Save the Tuche 9, 8 with a parent
Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis 9, 8 with a parent

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A zinema reading from September 23, 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