The Northman Parents Guide: Age Rating Explained

The Northman is set to become the newest epic historical action movie and is going to be one of the most talked-about movies because of its action scenes and intense moments. However, as good of a movie as The Northman may be, that doesn’t mean that it is a film that’s appropriate for all ages. This is why we are here to talk about The Northman’s age rating so that parents will be guided on whether or not they should allow their kids to watch this movie.

Is The Northman Scary

As we draw closer to its release date, The Northman is set to become one of the movies that people will talk about for a while because of its action-packed scenes and its intense battles. And one of the things that people noticed about its trailer is that it comes with a darker tone than most other epic historical movies.

It is that dark tone and the fact that the trailer does show some scenes that can be scary that make some people think that this is a scary movie. On top of that, director Robert Eggers is also known for The Witch, which is one of the best horror movies of the last decade. So, is The Northman scary? Are there any horror scenes in this movie?

The Northman isn’t meant to be a scary movie because this isn’t classified as a horror film. In that regard, it shouldn’t be scary when watched by people who are of the appropriate age. However, because of its darker tone and due to the fact that there are some scenes that tend to be dark and quite horrifying to watch, there might be some audience members that might get scared of such scenes.

Nevertheless, The Northman isn’t meant to be a horror movie and will not be scary. The scenes that people might think are scary (especially the ones involving The Seer) are going to be incidental at best and are not meant to be scary scenes.

How Gory And Violent Is The Northman

One of the things that people quickly noticed about The Northman when they saw the trailer is the fact that this is a movie that’s going to be full of battles. Of course, because it is set in a time period where Vikings were constantly engaged in battles and wars against different people, it is easy to conclude that The Northman is a very violent movie.

The Vikings are known as a group of people that has a history that’s bloody and full of violence because of the fact that they had to live in a harsh part of the world that didn’t offer much in terms of resources. That is the reason why Vikings were known to be raiders that raided nearby towns for treasure and resources and as fierce warriors that were able to conquer plenty of lands in the northern area of Europe. 

Considering that The Northman is a story about a Viking prince who is well on his way to reclaiming what he had lost, it goes without saying that this is a movie that’s violent. On top of the fact that it’s violent, it is also full of blood and gore, as you can see from the trailer, which shows Amleth and the other warriors in different violent fights.

Meanwhile, it is also worth noting that The Northman is rated R. An R rating means that the movie has strong violence and gore. In that regard, it only follows that this is a movie that parents shouldn’t allow their kids to watch if they are still under the age of 17 or are not capable of handling intense violence, blood, and gore.

Are There Sex & Nudity In The Northman?

Another thing that parents should be aware of when it comes to different movies is the possible presence of anything that’s sexual. In that regard, even if a movie may not have a lot of violence and gore, there might be sex scenes that are not appropriate for kids. So, in that regard, are there any sex and nude scenes in The Northman?

It is suggested that there is going to be an intimate scene involving stars Alexander Skarsgard and Anya Taylor-Joy. Taylor-Joy even opened up about the intimate scene that he has with Skarsgard in this epic Viking movie.

“We’re so lucky because we have a really close brother-sister bond,” Anya Taylor-Joy said. “And that is, as weird as it sounds in terms of a romantic relationship, that’s the kind of energy that you want because you know the other person has your back, they’re going to take care of you. And he was the perfect person to do my first kind of intimate scenes with.”

From what Anya Taylor-Joy said, we can make the assumption that she and Alexander Skarsgard are going to have a sex scene in this movie. It is also worth noting that this is the first sex scene that Taylor-Joy will have in any movie (though she did have one in the series, The Queen’s Gambit).

It was also hinted by Ethan Hawke that he and Willem Dafoe have a nude scene together, but there isn’t anything sexual about it. In that regard, the nude scenes that can be expected from this movie won’t only come from Skarsgard and Taylor-Joy but will also come from Hawke and Dafoe. 

Of course, the sexual scenes are hinted at by the fact that this film is rated R, which suggests that this movie is going to have strong sexual scenes on top of the violence and gore that it has. In that regard, the sex and nude scenes are also reasons why this is rated R.

How Much Profanity Is There In The Northman?

While there are plenty of different violent and sexual scenes in The Northman, the only good news that parents should know about this movie is that the profanity is on the milder side of things. There is hardly any profanity in The Northman despite the fact that it may be a movie that’s quite mature in terms of its themes and scenes.

What About Alcohol, Drugs, & Smoking?

The Northman is set in a time period that isn’t really known for alcohol, drugs, and smoking. Nevertheless, because of the overall tone of the movie, expect that there will be people drinking in this film.

Of course, while the modern-day drugs are absent from this film, Ethan Hawke did say in the very same nude scene that he had with Willem Dafoe that they took “Viking acid” and howled at the moon. This suggests that Viking acid may be some sort of an early version of acid and is a hallucinogenic drug or something similar to that.