Nyad | 2023 | PG-13 | – 4.4.5

Why is “Nyad” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned “for thematic material involving sexual abuse, some strong language and brief partial nudity.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes nudity in the context of athletics and competitive swimming, depictions and discussions of child sexual abuse, many scenes of a woman swimming in open water in a variety of conditions including heavy storms, several scenes of people being pulled out of water injured and/or unconscious and with life-threatening injuries from sea creatures, many arguments, and at least 1 F-word and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Based on the true story of champion swimmer Diana Nyad (Annette Bening), who at age sixty resumes her swimming career in order to conquer the one challenge that eluded her in her thirties: the 110-mile open-ocean swim from Cuba to Key West. Also with Jodie Foster and Rhys Ifans. Directed by Jimmy Chin & Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi. [Running Time: 2:01]

Nyad SEX/NUDITY 4

 – This film includes scenes and discussions of child sexual abuse (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details).
► While discussing one woman’s history of being sexually abused as a child, she and another woman hug and cry. During an open-ocean swim and while undergoing severe pain and exhaustion, a woman’s memories of being sexually assaulted as a child flash across the screen; a man approaches a young girl sleeping, then lies down behind her in the bed as he tells the child “it’s okay” and he closes the blinds; we see the child crying and moving on the bed (it is implied that the man is raping her) and she later cries while looking in a mirror. A girl leaves an office looking upset and another girl looks at her and helps her fix her blouse buttons, which are buttoned incorrectly; the other girl moves to enter the office and hesitates, looking nervous (it is implied that the girls’ swimming coach is sexually assaulting both of them regularly).
► A woman hugs another woman and squeezes her shoulder. Twice, a woman stands with her arm around another woman; it is implied that they are married. A woman hugs another woman and kisses her on both cheeks in greeting. In several scenes, two women hug while crying (both in happiness and in sadness). A man and a woman dance briefly, laughing; they keep several feet of space between them. Several people hug a woman in celebration; one woman kisses the other woman on the cheek. A woman pats a man’s leg with her hand while he cries; he tells her that he has sand in his eyes. Two teen girls gaze into each other’s eyes lovingly.
► In several scenes, a woman hugs a man while they are both emotional and crying. Two women tell each other “I love you” (it is implied that it is platonic). A man sees a young girl writing in her notebook, looks at a page to see “I Love Coach Nelson” written and encircled in a heart, and the man smiles and laughs while the girl looks embarrassed. A man and a woman sit in a bed together while the man talks to someone on the phone; they are both fully clothed and the woman touches the man’s shoulder.
► A woman tells another woman that she wants to introduce her to a younger woman, as a potential date; joking, the first woman tells her that the younger woman had the other woman’s poster on her wall growing up, and has her face “tattooed on her [anatomical term deleted].” On five occasions, a woman refers to another woman affectionately as “babe” or “baby.” A younger woman asks an older woman if she and her friend ever dated and the older woman says they briefly dated but are now just friends. A woman says that she does not need dating and romance anymore. A person refers to another person as a “seemingly sane, obviously beautiful young woman.” A woman makes a comment about people “breeding like crazy.”
► During the credit sequence, we see a real-life magazine cover photo that shows Diana Nyad nude from behind and her bare back and buttocks are visible. Women wear dresses and tops that reveal cleavage in several scenes. Several scenes show a crowded beach, with people wearing swimsuits and in various states of undress (revealing cleavage, bare backs, abdomens and legs). Twice, a woman rubs Vaseline on another woman’s shoulders to prevent chafing from swimming and sun exposure; she puts her hand under the straps of the other woman’s swimsuit to do so. A woman rubs Vaseline on another woman’s wounded shoulders; she is topless and we see her bare above the shoulders. A woman tries on a one-piece swimsuit in the mirror and examines her body (her bare back, legs and arms are visible). A man stands at the edge of a swimming pool shirtless, wearing tight swim trunks and he smiles at a woman before diving into the pool. We see clips of a woman dancing wearing a bra and underwear.
► Many scenes show women at various ages—child, teen, and adult—in one-piece swimsuits with their bare backs, arms and legs visible. Several scenes show people working out and wearing shorts and tank tops. A woman is shown submerged in a bathtub, visible from the shoulders up; nudity is implied but not visible. A woman wears a sports bra in several scenes and we see her bare abdomen. A woman struggles to put on a wetsuit and we briefly see her bare back. Men on a boat are shown shirtless and we see their bare chests, abdomens and backs. A person urinates over the side of a boat with no nudity visible.

Nyad VIOLENCE/GORE 4

 – During a woman’s open-ocean swim, a shark approaches when a protection system malfunctions; two men prepare to hit the shark with poles that have tennis balls attached at the ends, but they do not need to when the system operates and scares the shark away.
► A man jumps in the ocean after dumping a bucket of chum in the water to demonstrate protective devices; a shark swims quickly toward him, then darts away in reaction to a high-pitched squealing sound and the man explains that the deterrent will not hurt the shark and that he refuses to use weapons against sharks because “it is their ocean.”
► During an open-ocean swim and while undergoing severe pain and exhaustion, a woman’s memories of being sexually assaulted as a child flash across the screen; a man approaches a young girl sleeping, then lies down behind her in the bed as he tells the child “it’s okay” and he closes the blinds; we see the child crying and moving on the bed (it is implied that the man is raping her) and she later cries while looking in a mirror. A girl leaves an office looking upset and another girl looks at her and helps her fix her blouse buttons, which are buttoned incorrectly; the other girl moves to enter the office and hesitates, looking nervous (it is implied that the girls’ swimming coach is sexually assaulting both of them regularly).
► Several scenes of newsreel-type footage show Diana Nyad after attempting a record-setting swim and several people haul her out of the water as she struggles to move and speak and we see that her eyes are swollen and puffy.
► Several scenes show a woman swimming in open-ocean water at different times of day, including in total darkness when a red light is used to illuminate her (we are told that fish are not attracted to the light); several scenes show rough waters and thunderstorms, while a woman continues to swim in the open water (she is accompanied by other people in boats) and the swimmer coughs and chokes on seawater several times; the boat accompanying her loses sight of her but eventually finds her. A woman has to stop swimming, saying that she cannot see and “it feels like torture”; she coughs and gags while she is in the water. A boat begins taking on water during a severe storm and people on board struggle to convince a woman to get back on the boat as she swims, and is pulled away from the boat by the rough water. We see several newsreel-type footage clips of a woman swimming in a shark cage.
► A man and a woman are heard arguing while a young girl listens from another room; the young girl then observes them arguing as the man raises his hand to strike the woman (he does not), and then stomps away and slams a door loudly. Two women argue and one leaves angrily. People argue in several scenes with raised voices. A woman reflects on when she was 14 years old and a man sexually assaulted her and she asks, “Why didn’t I fight harder?”
► Several scenes show a woman removing her swimming goggles to reveal swollen and salt-water damaged eyes. Several scenes show a woman with open red wounds on her shoulders; it is implied they are friction burns from her swimsuit and she winces in pain. A woman holds her breath underwater in a bathtub with her eyes open; she gasps for air when she surfaces.
► A woman has an allergic reaction to medication; she gasps for air while in the ocean and several people pull her out of the water and carry her on to a boat where she continues to choke and gasp. A woman is pulled from the ocean and is resuscitated on a boat: we see her receive CPR and someone places an oxygen mask on her while she is unconscious and as another woman begs her to survive. A woman lies unconscious on a bed in a boat; we see her with an IV and an oxygen mask. A woman is loaded into an ambulance. Several scenes show a woman screaming in pain while in the ocean; it is later revealed that she was being stung by a jellyfish and people yell in panic as they try to revive her (we see her with an oxygen mask) and another woman says that she fears “she could die at any second.” A young woman swims in the ocean and is pulled from the water after having been stung repeatedly by box jellyfish. A man swimming in the ocean is pulled under the water while trying to save a woman; we see him resurface and another person explains that he is in shock from a box jellyfish sting and a woman administers an adrenaline shot to the man. A woman has visible jellyfish stings on her neck: they appear as red streaks. A woman seizes up in pain while swimming in the ocean, during a storm. A woman lies in a hospital bed with swollen facial features, bruises, and visible jellyfish sting marks. A woman steps onto a beach and struggles to stand as we see stingrays swimming around her feet; we are told that she must have two ankles out of the water to be declared successful. Several times, a woman complains about shoulder pain and she rates her pain as “a six out of ten” in one scene; a medic gives her a pain reliever and we see her swallow the pills.
► At various times, people discuss the dangers of open-ocean swimming, including creatures that could be deadly, like sharks, jellyfish, and stingrays. A woman says that she will swim in the open ocean without a shark cage; people argue with her that it is too dangerous. Several people discuss how to protect a woman from sharks during an open swim. A man tells a woman that her plan for an open-ocean swim “might cost you your life.” Two women discuss what can happen during a long open-ocean swim: one woman says that the “body will start eating itself” if the swimmer does not stop to eat and says that the swimmer might start to hallucinate. We hear that someone swallowed a box jellyfish and died. A woman attaches a facemask and shirt to another woman with duct tape, around the neck and wrists; we are told that it is for protection against jellyfish.
► A woman tells another woman after an open-ocean swim, “I watched you die” and says she is lucky that she did not overdose; the woman warns the bedridden woman that if she is stung by a jellyfish again, the venom will kill her. Several people refer to the Titanic when describing an open-ocean swim as dangerous. A woman says, “I don’t want to look back and think I could have tried harder.” A young girl jumps in a swimming pool and screams while submerged under the water. A woman tells her friend that she wished she could have killed the man who sexually abused the friend; the friend asks how she would have killed him and the friend replies that she would have “chopped his [anatomical term deleted] off” and “let him bleed to death.” A man and a woman argue about whether to try an open-ocean swim again. A man says that he is sick. We read that a man died from an illness. A woman screams at a swimming woman to keep swimming. A woman tells another woman to “prepare to die” and that she is going to “whoop her butt” in reference to a game of Ping-Pong. A woman tells another woman that when she bumped into her, it was “like walking into a brick wall” (implying that she is fit). A woman makes a remark about tampons.
► A woman hallucinates that stars are falling from the sky into the ocean as she swims. A woman hallucinates that she sees the Taj Mahal in the ocean.
► A woman vomits twice in a toilet and goo is visible. A woman vomits in the ocean while swimming (we see goo and hear her gagging); there is a discussion of overexertion. A woman coughs and gags after drinking a lot of seawater (we see her spit and it could possibly include vomit). A woman vomits over the side of a boat when the water is rough; vomit is not visible. A woman struggles to speak due to salt damage after a long swim; she slurs her words. People talk about a swimmer urinating and defecating while swimming. A person urinates over the side of a boat (no nudity is visible). Several young girls play “chicken” in a pool: two girls sit on other girls’ shoulders and playfully shove each other, laughing.

Nyad LANGUAGE 5

 – At least 1 F-word, 2 sexual references, 25 scatological terms, 10 anatomical terms, 12 mild obscenities, name-calling (normal, not psycho, bag of bones, ridiculous, hilarious, absurd, pathetic, water nymph, crazy, beast, bad [anatomical term deleted], mediocre, superiority complex, patronizing, crazy lady, exhausting, chronic pessimist, idiots, psychotic, selfishness, stupid, short-sighted), exclamations (wow, frickin, are you kidding me, capiche, suck it up, I can’t believe this, jeez), 1 religious profanities (GD), 17 religious exclamations (e.g. oh God, I swear to God, Jesus Mary Oliver, oh my God, thank God, God, Jesus, Holy [mild obscenity deleted], Holy [scatological term deleted], God forbid). | profanity glossary |

Nyad SUBSTANCE USE

 – A woman tells another person to go smoke a joint or something, several vials of prescription medication are seen on a man’s nightstand, and a woman is given a pain reliever after complaining of shoulder pain (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details). People drink at a party.

Nyad DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Mediocrity, obsession, sexual assault, child abuse, open water swimming, defeat, Global Warming, selfishness, destiny, sensory deprivation, excellence, loathing, talent, success, mental breakdowns, purpose, missions, sea sickness, tracking the Gulf Stream.

Nyad MESSAGE

 – Never give up.