Trapper runs from violent pursuers; gore, language.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Violence & Scariness
a lot
The movie is extremely violent in an old-fashioned way. Instead of using automatic weapons, Gideon wields a large knife as tool and weapon. A man drops the knife, perfectly aimed, onto a man's head. A man rips open a dead man and plunges his hands inside for warmth. A woman and her children die in a fire. A man is punctured through the chest by a bear trap. Someone shoots him to put him out of his misery. Two men fight. A man slits the throat of a dying horse to put it out of its misery, then guts the horse and spews innards on the ground. A man falls into rapids and over a waterfall. He removes a bullet from his own arm with a knife. He pours whisky on it to clean it and screams from the pain. A man tries to rape a young girl. A skinned rabbit is on a spit. A captain is reported to have killed 100 enemy soldiers in a single day of battle.
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Gideon doesn't know why he is being relentlessly attacked and pursued by killers. He finds every resourceful and ingenious way to thwart them. Carver is consumed by a mission of revenge.
Positive Messages
very little
Seeking violent revenge pays you back with more violence. "Nobody can protect nobody in this world." "For they that take the sword shall perish by the sword."
Diverse Representations
Flagged for concern
The setting is the Old West populated mostly by White people. White people make gratuitous racist remarks about "Injuns." A Native American hijacks people at a desert water hole for money and a horse. Misogynist sentiments are expressed. Someone suggests that the word wife is spelled "whore." "A woman ain't gonna be yours unless you're paying her for the night." Mormons are called "worse than Injuns" by the leader of a religious caravan.
Parents need to know that Seraphim Falls is a 2007 Western set in post-Civil War 1868 with the nonstop peril and action of a movie from the Bourne franchise. Parents should be aware that the movie is extremely violent in an old-fashioned way. Instead of automatic weapons, a large knife is used as a tool and deadly weapon. A man drops the knife, perfectly aimed, onto a man's head. A man rips open a dead man and plunges his hands inside for warmth. A woman and her children die in a fire. A man is punctured through the chest by a bear trap. Someone shoots him to put him out of his misery. Two men fight. A man slits the throat of a dying horse to put it out of its misery, then guts the horse and spews innards on the ground. A man falls into rapids and over a waterfall. He removes a bullet from his own arm with a knife. He pours whisky on it to clean it and screams from the pain. A man tries to rape a young girl. A skinned rabbit is on a spit. A captain is reported to have killed 100 enemy soldiers in a single day of battle. Language includes "f--k," "s--t," "bitch," "damn," "hell," and "whore." Adults drink alcohol and get drunk. White people make gratuitous racist remarks about "Injuns." A Native American hijacks people at a desert water hole for money and a horse. Misogynist sentiments are expressed. Someone suggests that the word wife is spelled "whore." Mormons are called "worse than Injuns" by the leader of a religious caravan. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
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What's the Story?
In SERAPHIM FALLS, Gideon (Pierce Brosnan) is a scruffy trapper surviving in the snowy mountains of the Old West when a gunshot cracks through the air and hits him in the arm. This begins nearly two hours of running from a posse of bounty hunters after his hide for reasons unknown to him. In minutes, he has lost his horse and fallen into rapids and over a waterfall. Soaking wet and shivering, he removes his shirt, builds a fire for antiseptic purposes, and grits his teeth as he removes the bullet in his arm with a fire-blackened Bowie knife. Peril awaits him at every turn. Even the family kind enough to tend to his wound hold a gun to him and steal his money. And as he runs from his pursuers, led by a vengeful Carver (Liam Neeson,) whose grudge dates to the days after the Civil War, he meets horsemen who are running from the law and want to kill him to keep him from reporting them, a mistake one outlaw won't live to rethink. When Gideon stops for water at a railroad construction site, the foreman takes his horse and imprisons him. Escapes, horse and gun thefts, and survival skills keep him going until he's whittled down the posse and it's one man against another, with a violent, fiery post-Civil War flashback to explain it all.
Seraphim Falls is a violently, articulately anti-war treatise disguised as a Western. It starts with a bang and few false moves mar the nonstop action from then on. And, as in Steven Spielberg's Duel, where a driver is speeding away from a mad, killer truck, the tension is intensified by the fact that neither we nor the victim know why he is being murderously tracked. The director and writer handle the onslaught of suspenseful, violent, and relentless plot turns expertly. Performances by Neeson as the dogged and vengeful pursuer and Brosnan as the canny and quick-thinking Gideon are grittily realistic. The only iffy moments occur toward the end when a Native American pops up every time someone comes to a watering hole, and a woman selling curatives appears out of nowhere in the desert.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the way the action of the movie starts immediately. How does the movie keep our interest in spite of the fact that we don't know why the man is being pursued?
How does the violence of this movie compare to violence in movies with automatic weaponry, car chases, and explosives?
How does the movie tell us that Gideon is smart? How does it make us root for him even though we know little about him?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
suggesting a diversity update.
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
