What age is The Founder 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 The Founder not recommended under 13?

What's in it: the official rating, first; a man who betrays his partners; fifties whisky and cigarettes; the rest. The detail, fact by fact, is in the zinema guide, which reads the work itself (images, sound, dialogue).

zinema · movies · what age

The Founder: what age is it for? 13, alone or with a parent

From 13, alone or with a parent.

Movie · 2016 · 1 h 55 · drama, history

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 9.

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What it's about

The true story of how Ray Kroc, a salesman from Illinois, met Mac and Dick McDonald, who were running a burger operation in 1950s Southern California. Kroc was impressed by the brothers’ speedy system of making the food and saw franchise potential. He maneuvered himself into a position to be able to pull the company from the brothers and create a billion-dollar empire.

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 man who betrays his partnersRay Kroc steals the McDonald brothers' name, method and restaurant, smiling, and leaves his wife for a partner's; the film does not punish him. That is what needs a child old enough to understand that you can win by being dishonest.
Fifties whisky and cigarettesPlenty of glasses, cigarettes in every meeting, and a first name, Dick, that comes up often without being a swear word.
The restKitchen knives, an argument or two; nothing frightening.

What the movie brings

How a hamburger becomes an empire: the true story, with its forgotten inventors.
The brothers' craftsmanship against the salesman's ambition, and the film lets you choose.
An economics lesson without a single figure: what you really own is the name and the land.

Watching it together

Before

Nothing to prepare; talk afterwards about what Ray did to the brothers, and ask whether it was allowed.

After

at 13 and up

The McDonald brothers invented the system and Ray Kroc won: who deserves the name?

See the facts

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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 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