The SessionsMovie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 79 out of 100 Generally favorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
17 not for kids
Read Common Sense Media review

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

  • 100
    New York Post | Lou Lumenick

    The very sex-positive The Sessions treats intimacy with an explicitness and honesty that's very rare in movies. It may be the first film that doesn't turn premature ejaculation into a punch line. Read full review

  • 88
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    Just see it. This movie will take a piece out of you. Read full review

  • 88
    Boston Globe | Ty Burr

    The achievement of this simply told, exceptionally fine film is the clarity with which it portrays the drama of a good soul in an inert body. Read full review

  • 83
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    The Sessions is first and foremost about Hawkes' virtuoso performance, one of those "My Left Foot"-y transformations that make audiences verklemmt and generate awards talk. Read full review

  • 80
    The Hollywood Reporter | Todd McCarthy

    At once entirely frank and downright cuddly in the way it deals with the seldom-visited subject of the sex lives of people with disabilities, this well-acted and constructed film will, at the very least, turn the spotlight on this unusual topic. Read full review

  • 80
    NPR | Ella Taylor

    For once in an American movie, the uplift feels earned. Read full review

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    The Sessions is moving. At times, it's even erotic, which is unexpected, to say the least. It sends viewers out of the theater with a heightened sense of the physical and a real feeling for all the things that sex means in human life. Read full review

  • 75
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    A moving tale with wryly funny moments. Read full review

  • 70
    Wall Street Journal | Joe Morgenstern

    The Sessions is admirable, and often enjoyable, yet self-limiting in concept. It's exactly about what it sets out to be about - no less but no more. Read full review

  • 60
    New York Daily News | Joe Neumaier

    It's strange to call a film with so much nudity and simulated sex "old-fashioned," but The Sessions nicely bridges that gulf. Read full review

View more reviews for The Sessions on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says not for kids Mature but deeply powerful look at sex and the disabled.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that The Sessions' story about a man in an iron lung who decides to explore his sexuality with the help of a professional "sex surrogate" isn't appropriate for younger teens. But for mature older teens and adults, it's a film filled with compassion and hope that could provide a lesson about what sex and love mean and what they can bring to anyone's life when approached in a healthy manner. Expect plenty of nudity (including brief glimpses of a woman's private parts and breasts, as well as longer shots of her backside) and frank conversations about sex acts, orgasm, and more. Language is infrequent but includes "f--k" and "s--t."
  • Families can talk about how The Sessions presents sex. What messages is it sending about sex as a part of life? As a part of a relationship? Parents, talk to your teens about your own values on these topics.
  • Had you ever heard of a sex surrogate before? Why do you think someone might choose this profession?
  • The Sessions also examines a man's relationship with God. How is it depicted here? How does it compare to how Hollywood has handled the subjects of faith and God in other movies?
The good stuff
  • message true4 Positive messages: The film is compassionate and sensitive to the triumphs and challenges that the disabled community faces. Without condescending, it reminds audiences that everyone has needs and desires that deserve acknowledgement and fulfillment.
  • rolemodels true3 Positive role models: Mark O'Brien, a real-life poet and journalist who survived only with the help of an iron lung, is the inspiration for this film, and he's depicted here as a graceful, thoughtful man with much to offer the world. His surrogate soothes his concerns and treats their relationship like any other that requires trust and communication. She also tries to understand what it's like for him to be tied to the iron lung. To her, he's not just a case, nor is he an outsider. She treats him with respect.
What to watch for
  • violence false0 Violence: Not an issue
  • sex false5 Sexy stuff: A woman's private parts are briefly visible, and her breasts are shown. Her backside is seen often, and there are glimpses of pubic hair. The two main characters are shown attempting to have sex, mostly from the waist up,  while discussing what they're doing and how it feels. Frank sex talk throughout, including references to orgasm.
  • language false3 Language: One use of "f--k," plus "s--t," "d--k," "crap," "ass," "damn," "oh my God," and more.
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false0 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Not an issue
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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