Oppenheimer Age Rating and Parents Guide

Christopher Nolan’s biographical thriller, Oppenheimer, delves into the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist who played a pivotal role in creating the first nuclear weapons during the Manhattan Project, ushering in the Atomic Age. Based on the book American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin, this film has an R rating, which may surprise some viewers. If you’re wondering whether Oppenheimer suits your family, we’ve put together the ultimate age rating and parents guide.

Why is Oppenheimer Rate R?

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rated Oppenheimer R for some sexuality, prolonged nudity, and language. The primary reason for the R ratings is because you will see Oppenheimer having sex with women where his butt is shown. You will also see the breasts of one of the characters on more than one occasion for a prolonged period.

While sex scenes in this type of movie may be surprising, Nolan explains that he wanted to include them because it shows that their love transcended politics. During an interview with Insider this is why Nolan said these scenes were important to him: “When you look at Oppenheimer’s life, and you look at his story, that aspect of his life, the aspect of his sexuality, his way with women, the charm that he exuded, it’s an essential part of his story. It felt essential to understand their relationship, see inside it, and understand what made it tick without being coy or allusive about it — but to try to be intimate, to try and be in there with him and fully understand the relationship that was so important to him.”

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In addition to the sex scenes and prolonged nudity, the second reason for Oppenheimer’s R rating is the use of cuss words like fuck, shit, Jesus Christ, and more. Additional content not explicitly covered by the R rating includes characters smoking cigarettes throughout most of the film and an enormous sense of terror during the movie’s last half. This sense of terror is from the death of a woman dying in a bathtub, references to the deaths caused by the dropping of the two atomic bombs, and the discussion of the resulting injuries of those who didn’t die.