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Renfield | 2023 | R | – 1.9.10
Why is “Renfield” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “bloody violence, some gore, language throughout and some drug use.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes many scenes of people with super strength fighting and leaving a lot of spilled blood and body parts, a badly burned individual with scars and tissue regenerating over time, people eating bugs, several arguments, and nearly 60 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.
When Dracula’s (Nicolas Cage) personal henchman and servant (Nicholas Hoult) starts questioning his career’s level of fulfillment and satisfaction, he finds support in a codependents’ group. Also with Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Brandon Scott Jones, Adrian Martinez and Camille Chen. Directed by Chris McKay. [Running Time: 1:33]
Renfield SEX/NUDITY 1
– A vampire kisses the hands of a couple of women.
► A woman wears a low-cut top that reveals cleavage. A server in a bar wears fishnet stockings.
Renfield VIOLENCE/GORE 9
– A man eats ants in an ant farm and becomes super-strong as he fights many armed men, and a police officer shoots several people; he fights with one man and pulls his arms off (we see a lot of blood) and uses the severed limbs to fight other people, pulls the flesh off a man’s face (we see tissue and blood underneath as the man screams), and jumps from a balcony and kicks another man that is attacking a woman and the man explodes with blood and tissue. A vampire breaks a man’s neck by twisting his head (we hear cracking), jumps around a room killing several other people, and rips out a man’s throat (blood gushes from the wound) before biting a man on the neck (blood gushes). A vampire bites a man’s throat and slashes other people (blood gushes and sprays from wounds) and a man tries to comfort one man with a very bloody throat wound. A man fights with several other men that have become super strong by eating bugs, they swing bats at the man, a police officer shoots at them and several are struck, a man stomps on another man’s head and a lot of blood gushes, and a man kicks another man and his body explodes with blood and matter spraying out of his mouth and his clothed buttocks. A man puts a liquid on a handkerchief and uses it to knock several men out while fighting with them, punching, kicking and throwing them; a very large man wearing a hood and mask over his head enters the room and the two men fight with one throwing knives and slashing heavy blades at the other and leaving one man with a slash across the abdomen (we see a lot of blood and intestines in the open wound), the other man is stabbed in the neck with a pen and his head is torn off and it slams against the window of a waiting car (we see the severed head and blood).
► A man fights with a vampire and punches him in the face repeatedly until he crushes his eye; the vampire is surrounded by a force field and he is beaten with a variety of weapons and dismembered (we see blood and body parts). A vampire is caught in a force field until it is broken and he turns to smoke, floats into a man’s mouth and the man explodes (we see blood and bits of flesh and tissue); the vampire is struck by sunlight, is badly burned and attacks another man setting him on fire and killing him (we see the vampire badly charred). A vampire is caught in the sun’s light and bursts into a glowing flock of bats. Several armed men wearing masks enter a bar as armed police enter the bar and gunfire is exchanged; a gun is held on a police officer and she is threatened and goaded, a man fights several gunmen and we see bloody wounds as one man is stabbed in the neck with a fork, and one man’s arms are severed with a serving tray.
► A vampire lifts a woman off the floor and holds her by the throat, tries to bite her and she shoots him in the foot (blood trickles out of the wound). A man fights with a vampire and puts his hands over the vampire’s mouth causing two long pointed teeth to poke through his hands, and when he pulls them away, he pulls out the teeth (we see blood and the teeth in the man’s hands). A man’s severed head rolls on the floor spraying blood. Armed men enter an abandoned hospital and find many bodies and parts of bodies on the floor with blood on and around them as flies buzz around; three men are pulled away by something unseen and another is held in the air by the throat, and a vampire slams a man in the chest and he is thrown as the vampire bursts into a flock of bats and flies away.
► A man drags two bodies through an alley (one is missing its head) and a vampire bites the finger off one body and tries to suck blood from it, spits and complains of it being trash. A man eats bugs in several scenes, his eyes glow and he becomes super-strong. A man snorts a millipede and his eyes glow. A vampire is shown regenerating flesh after being badly burned and we see the skin knitting back together (open areas are seen in a few scenes). A vampire opens a vein on his wrist in a couple of scenes and pours blood into people’s wounds healing them. Several implements of torture are seen in a room where a drape hangs in the background; we also see the silhouette of a body on a table and someone moving around it, with blood splattering on the drape. A blood-soaked pen is shown in an evidence bag. Men carry a heavy coffin into a room and remove the lid; a vampire stands up and is introduced as Dracula.
► A police officer arms herself with guns, stakes and crucifixes for a fight against a vampire. A car swerves through a DUI checkpoint and speeds toward two officers that jump out of the way and one shoots the car’s tire causing it to skid out and stop; the driver runs away from the car carrying many bags of white powder throwing one that breaks open on the face of an officer, and another officer throws a nightstick that knocks the man to the ground. A vampire is seen with many very pointy teeth and in one scene, two of the teeth grow longer than the others. A man talks about having lost his wife and daughter. We hear that a police officer was murdered.
► Police officers pull vehicles over at a DUI checkpoint. A police officer yells at her colleagues and accuses them of being corrupt. Self-help sessions show people dealing with the trauma of abusive relationships and they discuss toxic relationships. A vampire describes himself as an all-powerful god.
Renfield LANGUAGE 10
– About 57 F-words and its derivatives, 2 obscene hand gestures, 22 scatological terms, 6 anatomical terms, 5 mild obscenities, name-calling (monster, servant, crazy, trash, two-bit punks, husk, patronizing, unbearable [anatomical term deleted], freaking idiot, pathetic, empty void, tough guy, drama queen, sad), exclamations (shut the [F-word deleted] up, bloody [mild obscenity deleted]), 2 religious profanities (GD), 7 religious exclamations (e.g. oh my God, God, Jesus, Holy [scatological term deleted]). | profanity glossary |
Renfield SUBSTANCE USE
– Many bags of white powder are collected on a table as men talk about having stolen drugs from someone, a bag of white powder is thrown and it breaks open on the face of a police officer, and a man says that another man is on unidentified medication. Two women drink cocktails and appear drunk, and a vampire drinks something from a cocktail glass (it could be blood).
Renfield DISCUSSION TOPICS
– Codependency, jobs, vampires, power, corruption, Skaa, happiness, revenge, regret, loyalty, weakness, despair, greed, abandonment, betrayal, toxic relationships, immortality, heroism, loneliness, witness tampering.
Renfield MESSAGE
– With the support of others, we can find contentment.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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