Sleepers (1996) Poster

(1996)

Parents Guide

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Certification

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MPAA Rated R for language, graphic violence and two scenes of strong sexual content
Certification

Sex & Nudity

  • The protagonist is shown being sexually abused in a childhood flashback. Not graphic. No nudity.
  • Boys peek through a hole where they see topless woman from a dressing room of a theater.
  • A guard tells a boy in a cell to take off his clothes and his underwear, (we don't see his genitals)
  • One of the child characters is asked by a guard to take off his underwear, which he does, but no nudity is shown.
  • A montage occurs as the boys sit in prison; the narrator describes the screams of the boys who are being raped and assaulted in the night.
  • Though never really seen, it's implied (and also mentioned) that the boys had to endure repeated rapes at the hands of the guards. There are several quick flashback shots, but again nothing is seen.
  • There are several references to sexual abuse throughout the film and scenes where it is obvious that sexual abuse is about to take place

Violence & Gore

  • A group of guards take four boys down a storm tunnel, once they take them to a cellar, one of the guards tell these kids to "Face the wall". They then ask for a "blow job". They then hit kid is hit in the back with a baton and he winces in pain, the guards then start to rape and torture them (screams are heard)
  • A kid who was shown to be beaten from his father is shown lying in the hospital bed.
  • A man in a flashback is shown to be kicked from a flight of stairs and shot in the legs at a bathtub.
  • A kid often hears his parents arguing and/or fighting and once sees his father remove his belt and beat his wife with it. She isn't seen,
  • One little juvenile boy is heard crying after being abused by one of the guards (offscreen but it is explained by the narration).
  • A man has a flashback about being raped by guards. He is forced to pray while putting his hands on the table by guards and they pull his pants down, they then start to rape and beat him with a baton telling him to pray louder.
  • In a football match against the guards, we see people get tackled beaten and even the guards get hit by a black kid. After they win the game the guards get mad and throw the kids in solitary cells to rot and we can see rats and a kid's beaten eye while sitting in his solitary cell wanting to die. We later see them recovering in the hospital and they have just been informed that one of their friends were killed by the guards.
  • A drug dealer is seen hanging from a street lamp for selling heroin to kids on the street.
  • There are a few scenes of domestic abuse (they are mostly heard).
  • A man in a van with a beaten eye is taken to an airfield and shot many times (blood sprays).
  • An elderly man points a gun at two young men. He tells a third young man to run (we hear the sound of gunshots and it is assumed that the elderly man killed the two).
  • A kid steals a hot dog from a street vendor making the vendor chase him thus allowing the other boys to raid his cart. They then decide to steal the cart and end up losing control of it at the top of a flight of stairs down into the subway. It careens down the stairs and ends up crushing a man into a wall, injuring, but not killing him.
  • Two juveniles fight in a cafeteria resulting in bloody faces, a guard stops them.
  • A guard forces a kid to eat food off the floor, he then beats him with a stick (brutal)
  • Several young boys are beaten by guards, sometimes onscreen. We hear one of them was beaten to death.
  • Two men shoot a guy at a restaurant, first in the scrotum, legs and kneecaps, then the arm and head (blood splatters).
  • A black and white photo with two dead men is shown (blood is present)

Profanity

  • Language is scattered through the whole movie in random sections.
  • A guard calls a black guard "boy" and later calls a black kid "sambo."
  • 'Shit' is said at least 19 times.
  • 5 slang terms are said for male genitals (the "d" and "p" words),
  • 'Hell' is said at least four times.
  • 'Ass' is said at least three times.
  • 'Crap' is said one time.
  • 'Jesus' is said three times, 'God' said once, and 'Jesus Christ' said once.
  • 'God damn' is said at least twice and "Christ,"
  • One use each of "Oh my God," "Jesus Christ," and "Swear to God" as exclamations.
  • 'Fuck' is said at least 50 times (2 used sexually, 4 with prefix "mother"),

Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking

  • There is a lot of smoking throughout the movie. Father Bobby, Nokes, and Michael (as an adult), amoung others, all smoke many times.
  • Several characters smoke a lot of times.
  • Several characters are known to suffer from alcoholism and/or drug abuse/addiction. No scenes of illicit drug use.
  • References to alcohol use, and several scenes of adults drinking at a pub.

Frightening & Intense Scenes

  • While most of the physical and sexual abuse of the children is not shown in graphic detail, the scenes are still incredibly intense. The narrator describing the childrens' inner feelings adds to the feeling of despair and terror. At one point the boys are gang-raped by four guards - even though none of it is shown, the narrator's description still conveys the horror. The child abuse overall is VERY upsetting.
  • A man attempts to pray in church, but he begins to experience traumatic flashbacks to being raped with a baton in prison, as guards told him to pray and mocked him when he did so. The portrayal of PTSD is intense.
  • A kid gets beaten by guards may upset some.
  • Domestic abuse is played on screen and that may upset some
  • R18+ for Sadistic disturbing content including violence and rape. Language and brief sexuality and some drug use.
  • The Torture/rape scenes are very scary and disturbing
  • A kid is forced to eat on the floor while being beaten by a sadistic guard who then tell his friends to eat food on the floor.
  • A kid is put into a solitary cell and it just gets more depressing there.
  • Kevin Bacon portrays a sadistic guard who finds pleasure in torturing and raping children.
  • The scenes at the home for boys are intense, and strong violence and sexual abuse against children play a major role in the plot throughout the film.

Spoilers

The Parents Guide items below may give away important plot points.

Sex & Nudity

  • In a flashback scene a young boy is taunted by four men, as one of them rapes him with a baton. He is told to pray out loud, and when he does the men mock him. Nothing below the waist is ever shown but the scene is extremely disturbing and upsetting. We do hear the sound of the baton entering the boy's anus, for a moment.
  • While it is not shown, it is implied that four adult men gang rape four young boys. We only see them being walked to the basement where the assault occurs, but the narrator describes the horror of the night. It's very upsetting even without the visuals.
  • Shakes and John sneak into a confessional and hear a young woman come in and state that not only has she slept with married men, but that she's pregnant. When asked who the father is, she replies that it could be any number of people.
  • Nokes and the other guard take the four friends down into the steam tunnels of the building. When Michael asks what they want, Nokes replies, "A blow job," and the boys are then forced to perform that act on the guards (not seen, but heard).

Violence & Gore

  • The guards repeatedly beat and rape the boys (seen in flashbacks and quick shots) through their stay at Wilkinson. Shakes must endure rape with a nightstick as the guards ridicule him about his religion.
  • Tommy and John happen across Nokes in a restaurant and terrorize him for several moments before they begin to shoot him. They wound him at first by shooting him in the leg, arm and groin and then finally kill him with shots to the chest and head. It's a very bloody scene with blood spurting and running down the wall.

Profanity

  • "Punk," "Shut up," "Scum bag," "Bitch," "Little gimp," "Limp d*ck," "Bastard," and "You've got a real hard on for..."

See also

Taglines | Plot Summary | Synopsis | Plot Keywords


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