Moonrise KingdomMovie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 84 out of 100 Universal acclaim Metascore^® based on all critic reviews

Information for Parents:

OK for kids 14+

Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

100

San Francisco Chronicle | Amy Biancolli
The formality of Moonrise Kingdom - the orderly structure and dreamlike perfection of it all - is as poetic as any film I've seen this year. Read full review
100

Boston Globe | Wesley Morris
Moonrise Kingdom is Anderson's seventh movie, and it's the first since "Rushmore" that works from the opening shot to the final image. Read full review
100

Philadelphia Inquirer | Steven Rea
The usual complaints and caveats about Anderson - he's precious, his characters have no grounding in the real world - can be made about Moonrise Kingdom, but so what? This is his seventh feature, he has been working with a gang of collaborators in front of the camera and behind, and his worldview gets richer, and more revealing, even as the view from his lens gets smaller, closer, almost two-dimensional in its oddball tableaux. Read full review
90

Wall Street Journal | Joe Morgenstern
Beguiling and endearing. Read full review
88

Rolling Stone | Peter Travers
The top-tier cast, including Tilda Swinton as a character called Social Services, may be star overload, but each actor performs small miracles. Read full review
88

USA Today | Claudia Puig
Literate, melancholy and magical, Moonrise Kingdom is quintessential Wes Anderson, infused with his brand of daffy wit. Read full review
80

The Hollywood Reporter | Todd McCarthy
This is a Wes Anderson film -- more lightweight than some, possessing a stronger emotional undertow than others -- that will strike the uninitiated as conspicuously arch. Read full review
80

New York Daily News | Elizabeth Weitzman
Though not as impactful as Anderson's strongest works - including its adolescent cousin, "Rushmore" - "Kingdom" unfolds with an asymmetrical lyricism of its own. Read full review
67

Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum
For some viewers, Moonrise Kingdom may be movie heaven, another bric-a-brac-jammed bauble to place alongside "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou" and "The Darjeeling Limited." Personally, though, I wish that Anderson would come out from under the glass, or at least change what he's doing under there. Read full review
65

Movieline | Stephanie Zacharek
So why can't I love Moonrise Kingdom? For all the movie's technical meticulousness, the storytelling still has a wiggly-waggly quality, like a dangly loose tooth. Read full review

Metacritic link View more reviews for Moonrise Kingdom on Metacritic

Information for Parents

Common Sense Media says OK for kids 14+ Typically quirky Wes Anderson dramedy has lots of heart.

What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that Moonrise Kingdom -- a 1960s-set dramedy about two misfit tweens who run away with each other -- is, like most of director Wes Anderson's other films, atmospheric and loopy and moving: a mix that might confound younger audiences, even though the movie is about kids. Plus, the stories of their home lives are actually quite sad (one is an orphan; the other feels alone and misunderstood by her family). The young characters kiss each other, feel each other up, and are shown in their underwear. Swearing is pretty minimal ("hell," etc.), but there's some period-accurate smoking, and one 12-year-old character is served beer by an adult.

Families can talk about what Moonrise Kingdom is saying about the adults in these children's lives. Why do they seem so hapless? Are any of them role models?
Are Wes Anderson's movies funny, sad, or both. Why? How is his style of comedy different from other filmmakers'? How is this movie similar to and different from his other films?
Why are Sam and Suzy drawn to each other? What do they offer each other? Do they seem like real 12-year-olds?

The good stuff

Positive messages: Amid some characters' iffy choices and behavior are messages about the importance of marching to the beat of your own drummer. Also, that adolescence is tough, especially when the grown-ups around you haven't figured out their own lives. But a true friendship helps ease the journey.
Positive role models: Yes, they're rebellious and not particularly concerned about others' feelings, but Sam and Suzy are interesting, unique, strong-willed young people who've found an ability to care -- at least about each other. Suzy's parents, on the other hand, have lost in touch with that skill. The movie's other main adult characters generally have good intentions, even if they don't always make the best choices. Kids are both cruel and loyal, depending on circumstances.

What to watch for

Violence: A tween stabs another with a pair of scissors (the aftermath is shown, but not the incident itself). While hunting down a runaway, characters arm themselves with makeshift clubs, axes, air guns, and the like. People scream at each other, and one character sports a black eye. A cabin explodes while a man is in it; also, a child is shown being hit by lightning. A dog is killed by a wayward arrow.
Sexy stuff: Two 12-year-olds kiss (with and without tongue), feel each other up while clad in only their underwear, and discuss the feel of an erection. A married woman cheats on her husband, though she's not shown doing anything with her lover besides holding his hand. She's also shown topless very briefly in a non-sexual, non-close-up way.
Language: Infrequent swearing includes "goddamn," "damn," "son of a bitch," "hell," and "oh my God."
Consumerism: Not an issue
Drinking, drugs and smoking: Two characters smoke pretty frequently (accurate for the movie's 1960s setting), and one serves a 12-year-old beer.

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