What age is Past Lives 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 Past Lives not recommended under 13?

What's in it: the official rating, first ; a film that moves slowly ; a few blunt words ; drinks at the reunion ; tears, and a goodbye. The detail, fact by fact, is in the zinema guide, which reads the work itself (images, sound, dialogue).

zinema · movies · what age

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

From 13, alone or with a parent.

Movie · 2023 · 1 h 46 · drama, romance

YRS

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

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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 16-18, once you have already left someone behind, even if it was only a change of school or town. Why a sweet spot?

The trailer

What it's about

After decades apart, childhood friends Nora and Hae Sung are reunited in New York for one fateful weekend as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life.

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 film that moves slowlyThe film is built from silences, long takes and quiet conversation, and more than a quarter of it plays in darkness or half-light. It is not aimed at a viewer looking for action: it asks for patience and lets feeling arrive without music to announce it.
A few blunt wordsThree swear words in the French dub, one of them aimed at someone, plus a couple of cutting remarks. Not many, but they are the words of adults who are angry.
Drinks at the reunionThe characters meet in a bar and drink together at length, and the film makes nothing of it. It is simply the setting for an adult evening.
Tears, and a goodbyePeople cry more than once, quietly, and the film ends on a parting that takes its time. A sensitive child can be moved without being able to say by what.

What the movie brings

It shows you can love someone your whole life without that stopping you loving someone else.
It tells what emigrating costs a child, and what it gives them.
It puts words to something simple and rarely said: the life you did not live goes on existing somewhere.

Watching it together

Before

You can say beforehand that almost nothing happens, and that this is exactly what makes the film beautiful.

After

at 13 and up

Do you think Nora made the right choice, or was there no right choice to make?

See the facts

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

Alcohol●●○ · saidmeasured

Alcohol●●○ · shownmeasured

Kissing, romantic gestures●●○ · shownmeasured

Tense music or sound●●○ · shownmeasured

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

A weapon shown or used●○○ · suggestedmeasured

A weapon shown or used●○○ · shownmeasured

Abandonment, separation, confinement●○○ · shownmeasured

Density of dialogue●○○ · shownmeasured

Insults, hurtful words●○○ · shownmeasured

Pace●○○ · shownmeasured

Smoking●○○ · shownmeasured

Swearing●○○ · shownmeasured

For the same age, on zinema

Blücher 11, 10 with a parent
Le Château dans le ciel 11, 10 with a parent
Le Cinquième Élément 13
Star Wars 11, 10 with a parent

The latest guides

Surveillant ! 10, 9 with a parent
En fanfare 10, 9 with a parent
Les Visiteurs 17, 10 with a parent
It's a Wonderful Life 10, 9 with a parent

A zinema reading from September 24, 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