The Sisters Brothers | 2018 | R | – 5.8.7

Why is “The Sisters Brothers” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “violence including disturbing images, language, and some sexual content.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a brief sex scene, some male nudity, many scenes of gunfights ending with several dead and bloody bodies, violence toward animals, and over 25 F-words. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.”

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Western about the Sisters brothers (John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix) set in Oregon in the 1850s: the brothers make their living by doing the dirty work for a wealthy man and their final mission is to find and kill a man who had stolen from their benefactor. However, the situation becomes complicated when they discover their target has a very valuable secret. Also with Jake Gyllenhaal, Riz Ahmed, Rebecca Root, Rutger Hauer and Carol Kane. Directed by Jacques Audiard. [Running Time: 2:01]

The Sisters Brothers SEX/NUDITY 5

 – A man thrusts on top of a woman and we see his bare back and buttocks (in a brief scene). A woman’s bare buttocks are seen briefly as she moves around a room and leans over a man on a bed in the upstairs of a saloon. A man moans and we see movement under his blanket (implying masturbation).
► A shirtless man is shown and we see his bare chest, abdomen and back. Women in a saloon wear deeply cut dresses that reveal cleavage. A man is shown with a towel around his waist (we see his bare chest, abdomen and back). A man soaks in water (we see his upper chest. A man is shown wearing long underwear and we see his bare chest and abdomen. Two mermen are shown on a frieze on a wall and we see their bare backs to the waist.
► A man asks a prostitute in a saloon to role play and pretend to be a woman who handed him her shawl; they kiss briefly and she leaves. A man carries a shawl given to him by a woman and he presses it to his face to smell it each night before sleeping.

The Sisters Brothers VIOLENCE/GORE 8

 - A man has a nightmare about killing his father with an axe; we see his feet covered with blood and hear the blows and then we see body parts in a hole in the ground. A man calls out a threat in the darkness and gunfire breaks out; we see flashes as bullets are exchanged from a house and outside the house until several men end up dead on the ground and floor of the house, others are wounded and shot again at close range and one man slides down the roof of the house trying to run away but he is shot twice in the head (we see blood on wounds and blood and matter on a head wound). Four men shoot at three other men, two of the men end up dead in water and blood spreads and the third is shot by two men with the shot man standing between them. Two men shoot at several other men: many shots are exchanged, a few at close range, and we see dead bodies with bloody wounds on a street.
► A woman is shown with a trickle of blood on her forehead and she is later seen dead on the floor in a pool of blood. A man shoots himself under the chin off-screen and we see blood sprayed on the ground. Men in a street call for a man to come out of a building and he does; they exchange gunfire and the calling men all end up dead (we see bloody wounds).
► A man's arm to the elbow is cut off by a man using a saw (after he is badly burned) and another man holds the arm and vomits and spits several times (we see goo); we see the hand but not the cutting and hear sawing and the victim screams in pain. A man tries to pour more of a caustic solution into a river where other men are standing and spills it on his own arm; two of the men in the water are close enough that they are badly burned (we see one man with burned flesh on his face and his eyes are milky and another man is shown with burns on his arms and hands and head and he gasps when he breathes).
► A bear is shown dead on the ground and we hear that it attacked a horse (it is still alive) and a man killed the bear (we see a bloody wound on the bear and on the horse's head). A horse barn is shown burning and we see a horse in flames running away and screaming while a man enters the barn and shoots several of the remaining horses inside as they kick and scream. A horse seems to be in pain from a wound on its head and eye; we see bloody flesh and hear flies buzzing around the wound (we later see it with a bandage wrapped around its head). A horse is shown dead on the ground with its leg twisted unnaturally and a bloody wound on its head. Fish are shown floating dead after a solution is poured in the water.
► A man holds a gun on another man who punches him in the face and he falls unconscious (he is bound and gagged in a chair when he regains consciousness). A man kicks another man's gun away from his hand, and then holds a gun on him. Two men argue over their plans for the future and one slaps the other in the face toppling a table that is between them in a restaurant. A man punches another man hard in the face and he falls to the ground (no blood shown). A man punches a dead man in a coffin twice in the face to make sure he's really dead.
► Two men sleep outside and one has his hand on his pistol while he sleeps. Two men load their guns and prepare for a shootout. Two men ride through wreckage on a beach. A woman shoots her shotgun toward two men approaching her home not realizing who they are (no one is harmed). A man shoots inside a saloon and keeps shooting outside the saloon as other men run away.
► Two men argue in several scenes. A man teases another man about his feelings for a woman. A man talks about another being victimized by thieves. A man pretends to cry in his sleep and he teases another man who tries to comfort him. A man asks another man if he will kill him. A man says that two men will torture him for information before killing him (cut off his fingers, burn his feet, gouge out his eyes) and asks a man if he will watch. A man tells another man, "You puked on yourself." A man talks about having left his family because of the hatred he felt for his father. A man says that his brother killed their father and that it should have been him that did the killing. Two men make a plan to kill another man.
► Men complain of their skin burning from a solution poured in river water and they stand in it looking for gold; they get out to wash their arms and legs. A man screams in pain when a bandage on his wounded arm is unwrapped and we see a scarred stump at the elbow.
► A large spider crawls into a man's mouth while he is sleeping and the man's face and neck are swollen the next day; he is feverish and eventually the swelling goes down but his mouth is bloody and when he vomits we see small spiders in the puddle of blood/vomit. A man falls off his horse and vomits (we hear the splatter and do not see anything). A man vomits and we see goo. A man brushes his teeth and drools paste on his hand and chin; another man brushes his teeth and spits in a cup. A man spits n a floor (we see saliva leave his mouth). A man is giddy when he flushes a toilet and runs to tell another man (we hear the flush). A man is shown with a bad rash on his legs and talks about the caustic substance that caused it. Men cough when they work with a caustic solution.

The Sisters Brothers LANGUAGE 7

 - About 26 F-words, 7 scatological terms, 3 anatomical terms, 5 mild obscenities, name-calling (stupid, drunk loser, baby, foolish, stark raving mad, arrogant, scum suckers, fool, crabby, genius, abomination, drunk as a fish, trickster, sick as a dog, [F-word deleted] like a rabbit), 8 religious profanities (GD), 3 religious exclamations (e.g. Lord, Christ). | profanity glossary |

The Sisters Brothers SUBSTANCE USE

 - A man says he wants to go get a drink, a man drinks in a saloon as do other men around him, many men drink and smoke in a saloon scene, two men sit in a saloon with a bottle of alcohol on the table between them (we don't see them drink), a man makes several references to another man drinking too much, two men talk about their father having been a drunk, a man drinks wine and smokes a cigar in a restaurant, a man drinks a shot of liquor in a restaurant, a man drinks liquor from a bottle, and many people crowd into a saloon after they hear the proprietor is dead. A man rolls and smokes cigarettes in several scenes throughout the movie, a man smokes a cigarette around afire, and a man smokes a cigar in a dining establishment.

The Sisters Brothers DISCUSSION TOPICS

 - Brothers, relationships, love, family, gold rush, greed, duplicity, power, luck, respect, challenges, hard labor, siblings, regret, chemical divining substance, ambition, murder for hire, reputations, change, true democracy, freedom, sharing.

The Sisters Brothers MESSAGE

 - Family is the way to happiness.