Oppenheimer Parents Guide: Why The Christopher Nolan Movie Is Rated R

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Christopher Nolan is one of the most respected and popular filmmakers working today. Not only has he made gigantic and beloved hits like "The Dark Knight," but he's also made blockbusters about historically significant events such as "Dunkirk." Most recently, the filmmaker brought us "Oppenheimer," a biopic about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the godfather of the atomic bomb.

Aside from being one of Nolan's most roundly praised cinematic works to date, "Oppenheimer" was also the director's first R-rated movie in 20 years. For parents who are considering letting their kids watch the movie, this is certainly a consideration. Not only might anyone interested in movies wish to watch one of the biggest breakthrough hits in recent memory, but it's a film documenting the life of an important man whose work casts a shadow on the world even today.

So, why was this movie given an R rating by the MPA? Is it terribly violent? What should parents be aware of before letting a kid watch the movie? Is this one of those movies that takes the R rating to the extreme? We're going to go over it in detail so that one can make a more informed decision on the matter. As always, there exists a lot of nuance within these ratings. 

The Motion Picture Association gave "Oppenheimer" an R rating "for some sexuality, nudity and language." For what it's worth, as of 2018, more than half of all movies rated by the MPAA all time were given an R. It's extremely common, and language alone (if it's strong enough) can earn a given movie an R. It's not always about hardcore violence and whatnot.

As for the specifics, let's start with the sexuality and nudity. Much of that takes place within scenes involving Cillian Murphy's J. Robert Oppenheimer and Florence Pugh's Jean Tatlock, an early love interest of Oppenheimer's. There are several scenes in which we see them at various levels of undress. Florence Pugh's breasts are on display for slightly extended scenes. It's not blink-and-you'll-miss-it stuff.

As for the language, a PG-13 movie, as a rule of thumb, can have one F-bomb in it and avoid an R rating. This movie goes heavier on the language with multiple F-bombs, as well as other uses of profanity. For those who are strongly opposed to such language, it's a consideration to make.

While the MPA didn't include violence within its reasoning for granting an R rating, there are some scenes that depict violence. This is a movie about the atom bomb during wartime, after all. There is a scene depicting a vision of what happens after the nuclear bomb goes off and we briefly see a woman's skin begin to peel from her face and a charred corpse lying on the ground, among other things.

IMDb's parents guide lists the sex and nudity factor as moderate; violence and gore as mild; profanity as moderate; alcohol, drugs, and smoking as mild; and frightening and intense scenes as moderate.

Whether or not a parent decides this is an appropriate movie to show their kids, it's hard to argue with results. "Oppenheimer" made nearly $1 billion at the box office and won Best Picture at the Oscars. It became the first outright blockbuster to take home the Academy's top prize in two decades. It was also met with near-universal praise from critics and audiences alike.

Be that as it may, it was somewhat out of character for Nolan. Despite working steadily in Hollywood for the entirety of the 2000s, he's very rarely ventured into the realm of R-rated filmmaking. Other directors such as Quentin Tarantino or Martin Scorsese have made their hay working in the R-rated realm. Nolan's breakthrough movie "Memento" from 2000 was also an R-rated affair, as was 2002's "Insomnia." But that's it.

Everything else Nolan has done, from "Batman Begins" to "Inception," has been in the PG-13 realm. That said, Nolan does believe that "Insomnia" is perhaps his most underrated movie. "I think, of all my films, ["Insomnia" is] probably the most underrated," he said in 2020. "Of all the films I've made, it sits the most squarely or comfortably within the genre that I was trying to make it in."

Nolan is currently working on his adaptation of "The Odyssey," which hits theaters this summer and features Matt Damon in the lead role. Whether or not that earns an R rating remains to be seen, but it does feel like the kind of movie that Nolan would make that rides that PG-13 line for a broader, global audience.

You can grab "Oppenheimer" on 4K, Blu-ray, or DVD on Amazon.