‘Borderlands’ Parents Guide: Movie’s Age Rating Explained

‘Borderlands’ is an upcoming movie based on a popular video game series under the same name. It’s directed by Eli Roth and features a cast of famous actors like Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, and Jack Black. The movie will be released on August 9, 2024, and recently we had the opportunity to catch a glimpse of what the movie will be about through the trailer. Now since ‘Borderlands’ is an extremely popular video game among younger audiences, plenty of parents are wondering whether the movie will be suitable for older children and teens alike, so let’s take a look at it in more detail.

‘Borderlands’ age rating hasn’t been revealed yet officially

The movie has seen several changes in developments since it was first announced. Leigh Whannell was initially in talks to write and direct the film in May 2015, but the project later evolved, with Aaron Berg writing the script by April 2016. Oren Uziel took over scripting duties by June 2018. In February 2020, Eli Roth was confirmed as the director with Craig Mazin writing the screenplay. The cast was gradually announced, including Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Jack Black in key roles. Additional cast members joined in subsequent months. The script underwent multiple revisions, including contributions from Juel Taylor and Tony Rettenmaier, and Eli Roth. Penn Jillette revealed his involvement with a small role in May.

Initially when the movie was first announced THR reported that its sources claimed that the movie would be rated “R” due to the movie being an “edgy” take on the source material. Honestly, this is not that hard to believe considering that the video game series is edgy as hell and rated M – for mature.

But as of now, even after the trailer has been released there’s no talk regarding the age rating but we can safely assume that it’s going to be rated “R.” Here’s why.

The original source material is rated “M”

Now the original video game series is rated “M” by ESRB and for a good reason. There is plenty of Intense and overwhelming violence in the games, even if the graphics are totally unrealistic and cartoonish in nature. There is a lot of blood, gore, body parts, explosions, and weaponry displayed and there is no logical way for the game to get a rating lower than that.

There are also some sexual themes present in the game and some strong language, but it’s nothing that your kid won’t hear on TV or casually on the street in any case. The original video game series is not for teens younger than 17 years of age, and the movie will likely reflect that.

What we’ve seen in the trailer so far

Obviously, we have to draw conclusion from the trailer alone since the movie is still a long way from being released to the general audiences but everything in the trailer implies that the movie will be “R” rated.

First, there’s is a lot of violence, in almost every scene in the trailer someone is handling some kind of a weapon and something violent is taking place, but this is to be expected, there really isn’t a way to make this a faithful adaptation without including over the top violence. There are plenty of shots with weapons, explosions, blunt weapons, stunts, etc. But this is normal.

As far as blood and gore goes, you can expect it, but it won’t be over the top like in the slashers and horror movies in general. Strong language wasn’t exactly present in the trailer except for the word “piss” and “s***” but, your kid can definitely hear worse things just walking down the street. Sexual Themes also weren’t exactly present in the trailer except for the “mine is bigger” line that implies, well, you understand the innuendo, but there shouldn’t be problems with the movie in that aspect because it’s not that kind of movie.

Overall, the biggest problem you should have with the ‘Borderlands’ movie should be in regards to excessive violence.

Should you let your child watch ‘Borderlands’?

Due to the movie being extremely colorful, I have no doubt that the youngest among us will be drawn to it, but there’s really nothing for kids in this movie. Teens older than 17 should have no problem watching the movie by themselves and understanding everything but younger than 17? It kind of depends on what types of media your child regularly consumes. If your child is younger than 17 but has played the video game, it would be kind of pointless to bar him or her from watching the movie, if not, well it’s up to you. In my opinion, however, kids as young as 15 can watch this movie without being shaken by the violence since it will be neatly packed in plenty of humor and a phenomenal cast.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!