What age is World Trade Center 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 World Trade Center not recommended under 13?

What's in it: the official rating, first ; a real attack, lived from inside ; trapped men, and a death ; families in anguish ; some swearing. The detail, fact by fact, is in the zinema guide, which reads the work itself (images, sound, dialogue).

zinema · movies · what age

World Trade Center: what age is it for? 13, alone or with a parent

From 13, alone or with a parent.

Movie · 2006 · 2 h 10 · drama, history, thriller

YRS

Official US rating: PG-13. In France, zinema would say 12.

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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 13-15, when they're learning about the September 11 attacks and can talk about fear and courage. Why a sweet spot?

The trailer

What it's about

Two police officers struggle to survive when they become trapped beneath the rubble of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

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 real attack, lived from insideThe movie recreates the collapse of the Twin Towers: panic, dust, deafening noise, and families waiting for news in front of the TV. For a child, knowing it all really happened weighs as much as the images.
shown
Trapped men, and a deathTwo officers stay stuck under the rubble for hours, injured and in the dark; one of their colleagues dies beside them. We also see a young man bleeding from the head and bodies in the dust.
shown
Families in anguishMuch of the movie follows wives and children who don't know whether their husband and father is alive: lots of tears and waiting.
said
Some swearingSome swearing in moments of fear and anger, mostly hell and damn, with a few stronger words.
shown

What the movie brings

A movie about rescuers' courage and solidarity that helps kids understand what the September 11 attacks were for the people who lived through it.

Watching it together

Before

You could explain beforehand what happened on September 11, 2001, and mention that the two officers in the movie are real people who survived.

After

at 13 and up

What helps Will and John hold on under the rubble, and what would you have done in their place?

See the facts

A weapon shown or used●●● · shownmeasured

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Disaster, destruction, war●●● · shownmeasured

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Abandonment, separation, confinement●●○ · shownmeasured

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Frightening imagery●●○ · shownmeasured

Fugue, enfant parti seul●●○ · saidmeasured

Grief, sorrow●●○ · saidmeasured

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Smoking●●○ · shownmeasured

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For the same age, on zinema

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A zinema reading from October 4, 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