Happiness for Beginners | 2023 | TV-14 | – 2.3.4

Why is “Happiness for Beginners” rated TV-14? The TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board rating indicates that “this program contains some material that many parents would find unsuitable for children under 14 years of age.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a couple of kisses, discussions of infidelity and divorce, several injuries during a survival course including a broken leg and a knee injury with some blood evident, discussions of a miscarriage, several arguments, and some strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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After her divorce, a lonely uptight woman (Ellie Kemper) signs on for beginner’s survival training held on 51 miles of the daunting Appalachian Trail in Connecticut and New York. Surprised by a family friend (Luke Grimes) on the trail, she learns more than survival skills. Also with Nico Santos, Blythe Danner, Ben Cook, Shayvawn Webster, Julia Shiplett, Gus Birney, Esteban Benito, Alexander Koch, Aaron Roman Weiner and Mary Neely. Directed by Vicky Wight. [Running Time: 1:43]

Happiness for Beginners SEX/NUDITY 2

 – A man and a woman kiss for several seconds, hug, kiss again for several seconds, and dance. A woman looks for a man, who is lost in the woods at night, he hugs her and says he has a degenerative eye disease causing him to slowly go blind and they almost kiss but are interrupted by people calling for them.
► A woman and a man share a tent one night, fully clothed and in zipped-up sleeping bags side by side; they each accuse the other of jealousy and they grumpily go to sleep (no sexual activity occurs). A man touches a woman on the knee and she removes his hand.
► A woman tells another woman that she is “crushing on” a man. A woman overhears that a man she knows is interested in another woman; we hear that the man and the other woman kissed and a third woman asks, “Does it count as a kiss if it was only for two seconds?” A woman asks a man about him kissing a woman and he says they were playing “Truth or Dare.” A woman confronts a man several times about staring and hovering over her and he says he fears her returning to her ex-husband; she tells him to stay away and it’s none of his business. A woman tells her hiking group that her ex-husband was unfaithful and she divorced him after having a miscarriage. A man congratulates a woman on her divorce. A woman finds a love poem left for her by a man. A woman’s grandmother tells her that she looks like she might be in love.
► A woman pulls up her jeans and we see that she is wearing biker shorts (we see her bare knee and thigh).

Happiness for Beginners VIOLENCE/GORE 3

 – A hiker steps up on a log and falls through a rotten spot, groaning, grimacing and screaming; although an injury is not visible, we hear that his leg is broken and three women lay him on his back, and splint his leg as he hallucinates a donkey. A woman says to another woman, “Lend me your knife; I’m going to end it” when she sees an injured man (it does not happen); she and three men carry him three miles on a stretcher they make out of tree limbs and jackets and EMTs load him into an ambulance. A woman gashes her knee on a large rock (we see a large red abrasion as she yelps); an EMT dresses the wound below the frame. A man berates a woman for not using the correct footwear for hiking and she develops blisters on both heels (we see one blister, red and black, and she complains of pain and limps); an EMT attends to her off-screen. A man falls on his face while dancing at a wedding but he is not injured.
► A man finds a piece of paper litter, shouts and screams at survival course participants, and then ignites it with a cigarette lighter; a woman pours water on it. A woman’s ex-husband calls her to remind her that it is their sixth wedding anniversary and she hangs up. A few people disapprove of the man a woman is marrying; we see this in a flashback.
► A woman tells a man that at age 6, her family went to a lake house where her 5-year-old brother sneaked out and went to the marina alone, he was found dead the next day, she blames herself, and her parents soon divorced and left, dropping her and her 4-year-old brother at their grandmother’s house; she never saw her parents again, but her mother texts her once in a while.
► Several people on a survival course are rude and dismissive of an older woman also participating in the course. A man complains about a survival course and annoys others. A survival course leader criticizes one participant for complaining. A man shouts and berates people on a survival course when one of the participants steps onto a log. A man tells the group to watch out for litter, logs, trench foot, ticks, rabid bears and blisters; he tells them there will be no restrooms and they must go into the woods to defecate and urinate (we don’t see this). A man confronts another man for being a constant complainer, for criticizing and pushing people too hard, causing injuries, and tells him to stop doing it. A man and a woman argue in a few scenes. A woman alone in the woods breaks a vow of silence by screaming; she yells, “Women should talk.” We hear that a man ran over a dog with his car (the dog survived). A man tells a woman his father died, says their motel looks rundown, and tells the woman, “Don’t get murdered.” A woman says that when she was little, her family cabin felt like a dark wooden coffin to her.

Happiness for Beginners LANGUAGE 4

 – 9 scatological terms, 6 anatomical terms, 11 mild obscenities, name-calling (crazy, insane, nutty, idiots, dumb, stupid, weird, weirdo, old, lame, annoying, superhero, big hero, smarty-pants), exclamations (jeez, oh my gosh, whoa), 22 religious exclamations (e.g. oh my God, oh God, thank God, Holy [scatological term deleted], Holy Mary Mother of God). | profanity glossary |

Happiness for Beginners SUBSTANCE USE

 – A woman says a man on a stretcher has been hopped up on pain meds (we don’t see this), and a doctor tells a woman to take a Tylenol but she never does. A man at a party holds a beer bottle and a woman holds a glass of liquor while two other women hold plastic drink cups, a man sips from a beer bottle while another man and a woman hold beer bottles at a party, a man drinks from a champagne glass and a few men and women hold champagne glasses while one woman also holds a champagne bottle, a couple of people sip tall cocktails, a woman says she had two margaritas the night before and feels hung over, an unopened bottle of wine is shown on a counter and a woman in a yard holds a glass of wine, and four people sing “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” while carrying a stretcher with an injured person on it.

Happiness for Beginners DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Relationships, love, infidelity, divorce, loneliness, anger, guilt, dating a younger man, ageism, gossip, fitting in, survival training, conservation, self-improvement, courage, determination, positive thinking, apologizing, leadership, honesty, understanding.

Happiness for Beginners MESSAGE

 – Trying something new can lead to a positive life change.