What age is The Independent appropriate for?

Rated R in the US. 17, 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 The Independent not recommended under 17?

What's in it: the official rating, first; a political thriller that talks rough; 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 Independent: what age is it for? 17, alone or with a parent

From 17, alone or with a parent.

Movie · 2022 · 1 h 48 · thriller, mystery, crime

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 R, and we never go below it. Alone from 17, and not before, even with an adult.

Official US rating: R. In France, zinema would say 12.

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What it's about

It's the final weeks of the most consequential presidential election in history. America is poised to elect either its first female president or its first viable independent candidate. Reporting history as it's made, an idealistic young journalist teams up with her idol, legendary journalist Nick Booker, to uncover a conspiracy that places the fate of the election, and the country, in their hands.

Why 17

The official rating, firstRated R in the US (restricted, under 17 requires an accompanying parent). zinema never goes below the country's rating: it explains it.
rule
A political thriller that talks roughA journalist uncovers fraud at the heart of a presidential election; threats, tails, a source who dies, and some eighty swear words. No violence shown.
The restNewsroom cigarettes, a few innuendos.

What the movie brings

Journalism as a trade: checking, protecting a source, publishing despite fear.
An American election explained from behind the scenes, with an independent candidate who could win.
A film without a gunshot, where the suspense rests on what you know.

Watching it together

Before

Explain beforehand how an American election works, or the film stays a set of offices; the language is crude.

After

at 17 and up

The journalist can publish and change an election: should she?

See the facts

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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