Ordinary Angels | 2024 | PG | – 1.3.2

Why is “Ordinary Angels” rated PG? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “thematic content, brief bloody images and smoking.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes many discussions of death, illness, organ donation and transplants, a young girl’s condition is shown deteriorating as time passes without a liver transplant, many arguments, discussions of alcoholism and treatment, and some name-calling. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Based on the true story of a man (Alan Ritchson) who becomes widowed, and when his young daughter needs a liver transplant he quickly learns that he cannot function without help from kindhearted people. A woman (Hilary Swank) steps up to help in many ways and rallies their community around his cause. Also with Amy Acker, Nancy Travis, Tamala Jones, Emily Mitchell, Drew Powell, Skywalker Hughes, Nancy Sorel, Dempsey Bryk and Stephanie Sy. Directed by Jon Gunn. [Running Time: 1:56]

Ordinary Angels SEX/NUDITY 1

 – A woman wears low-cut tops and dresses (we see cleavage and part of her bra) in most scenes and miniskirts in some scenes (we see her legs to mid-thighs).
► A young girl is shown with a lot of lipstick on her lips and face and her older sister is alarmed; the child’s father helps to remove some of it from her cheeks.

Ordinary Angels VIOLENCE/GORE 3

 – an unconscious woman lies in a bed with monitors beeping, a member of medical staff tells her husband that her blood pressure is dropping, and that it will be soon (she is dying).
► A young girl’s nose bleeds and she spits out blood (we see the blood); she is rushed to the hospital and the doctor says that she needs a liver transplant within weeks. A young girl wakes up calling for her father and we see that her abdomen is very swollen; he rushes her to the hospital. A young girl’s eyes are turning yellow and her father rushes her to the hospital for a blood transfusion; the doctor reports that she has been moved up the liver transplant list and that if she does not get a new liver within a year she will die. A newspaper headline describes a woman dying and her young daughter suffering from a life-threatening illness. A young girl has a reddened rash on her arm and she scratches it.
► A woman is shown in a hospital room holding a newborn and we hear monitors beeping. A young girl is shown with a lot of lipstick on her lips and face and says, “I wanna look pretty for mama” when they prepare to go to her mother’s funeral. A young girl asks her father if her mother is in heaven, and then adds, “Where is she really.” A young girl draws a family tree and cannot remember the color of her mother’s eyes. A young girl talks about how much time she has left and an older child asks her father if the young girl is going to die like their mother. A young girl asks her father if he is mad at God and why they don’t pray anymore.
► A heavy snowstorm causes many roads and airports to close; we see cars off the roads, one man tries to drive along a narrow road, he breaks a locked gate and he encounters a fallen tree that he tries to move but cannot. A man drives a truck off-road to get to a parking lot where he and his young daughter are picked up by a helicopter that takes them to an airport, all during a heavy snowstorm and whiteout conditions. Heavy winds blow, accompanied by thunder and lightning as news reports discuss tornadoes and we later hear and see the devastation with many homes destroyed by the storm. A man stands on a roof replacing shingles as a heavy storm with thunder and lightning approaches. People shovel a parking lot during a heavy snowstorm to clear a place for a helicopter to land.
► Many people in a bar drink many shots of liquor and one woman appears inebriated when she stands on the bar and dances; she falls off the bar and we hear glass breaking, but she gets up and seems uninjured (we see a bruise and a bit of blood on her forehead the next day). A woman is shown with a bandage on her foot and says she needs to use crutches, after twisting her ankle.
► A man becomes angry with a doctor when he tells the man that he will need to get a plane to take his daughter to a hospital in time for a transplant. A woman tries to talk to her estranged son and he is dismissive and tells her to leave. A woman barges through a man’s door and tells him to show her his bills and other documents; the man is taken aback and initially refuses, but then allows her to see everything. A woman yells at her granddaughter and tells her, “I will turn you over my knee.” A woman yells at her adult son because he did not bring something home for dinner; he yells at her and storms out of the room. A woman tells another woman that she will not allow her to become her mother; we later hear the mother described as a “mean drunk.” A woman tells another woman (after a night of drinking a lot in a bar) to put on her shoes and takes her to an AA meeting; the second woman is annoyed. A woman tells her adult son, “Don’t lose your faith.” A young girl says that she is never going to do war when she grows up because she fears being punched in the eye. A man is angry when he sees a woman using his deceased wife’s makeup on his two young daughters and he tells the woman to leave. A woman pleads with hospital administrators to reduce a man’s medical debt. Two women argue in a few scenes. Two young girls are frightened when a woman taking care of them gets drunk and passes out on a picnic table; the children’s father tells the woman to leave. A man becomes upset when a news crew is at his house interviewing his young daughter and tells them to leave.

Ordinary Angels LANGUAGE 2

 – 2 mild scatological terms, 1 anatomical term, name-calling (belligerent, mean drunk, frustrating man, super annoying, weird, stupid, boring, gloom and doom, grumpy, little stink bug, no good, rude, not worth loving), exclamations (enough, leave it, oh man, please, sure as heck, shoot, heck, daddy’s in over his head, come on, you gotta be kidding), 13 religious exclamations (e.g. gift from God, thank God, why has God forsaken me, God is here with us, lean on God, good Lord, mad at God, thank you God, oh my God, a wall hanging reads God bless our home, Lord). | profanity glossary |

Ordinary Angels SUBSTANCE USE

 – We see many prescription vials on a young girl’s night stand, a young girl takes some medication ground in applesauce, and many scenes show a young girl having blood transfusions and using a feeding tube and oxygen. Many people in a bar drink many shots of liquor and one woman appears to be inebriated, a woman wakes up and seems hungover and prepares a glass of orange juice with some liquor in it, a woman catches herself before asking a friend to go get a drink to celebrate (she is an alcoholic), a woman pours the remains of several bottles of liquor down a drain, a woman drinks from a bottle of liquor, a woman is shown passed out on a picnic table after drinking liquor and beer, and a woman buys a 6-pack of beer in a store. A couple of people smoke cigarettes in an AA meeting, and a man smokes while working on replacing a roof.

Ordinary Angels DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Death of a spouse, death of a parent, life-threatening illness, pain, loss, grief, heroes, addict behavior, failed marriages, self-worth, hospital and medical care bills, health insurance, alcoholism, divorce, reverse mortgages, estrangement, fund-raising, single parenting.

Ordinary Angels MESSAGE

 – Some things are impossible to do alone. Finding a purpose can help people get through difficult circumstances.