Chicken Run
Acceptable. Age: 7+. A Catholic review of this movie for parents.
Our review
Ginger is a hen stuck on a farm that is like a prison. She wants to escape, but she will not leave unless every chicken comes too. A show-off rooster named Rocky promises to teach them to fly. They must hurry, because the farmers have a scary new plan for the chickens. Ginger could get out alone and refuses to. That choice to stay with the flock is the heart of the film. Greydanus calls it pure magic as craft. It is rated G but one hen is killed offscreen with an axe, so it plays older than it looks.
For parents
G, but Common Sense Media says seven and up, and that gap is fair. Greydanus at Decent Films says Kids & Up and warns of menace to chickens and fleeting mild innuendo. Things to know: a hen is killed with an axe. The killing is not shown, but the sound is heard. The chickens are in peril throughout and get hurt testing flying machines. Hens swoon over Rocky and offer to share their roosts, which Greydanus calls isolated and fleeting. An older rooster calls Americans 'oversexed.' Common Sense Media logs British slang such as 'buggers' and 'bum.' A rooster drinks a 'cocktail' from a martini glass and acts drunk. Rocky lies about himself before he comes through. Ask: why will Ginger not escape alone? What did Rocky's lie cost the others? When is it hard to tell the truth about yourself?