What Parents Need to Know About the New ‘Barbie’ Movie 2023
If you’re thinking of taking your kids to see the Barbie movie, and looking for a spoiler-free Barbie movie parent guide, don’t worry, I’ve got you. And details to help you decide what the Barbie movie age rating 2023 is for your family. And who you might want to bring. This post might contain some shoppable commissioned links.
Summer movies are in full swing and the Barbie movie is one a lot of people have been counting down to see. But is it age appropriate for young Barbie fans? There are dozens of animated Barbie movies that my sisters and daughters love/d to watch and similar-styled filmed such as Life Size, but this film is definitely a new take. The film is part comedy part drama, and many of the laughs are geared at the brand itself.
‘Barbie’ Movie Parent Guide
I took my 13-year-old with me to see the new Barbie 2023 movie with me, not sure what to expect. PG-13 ratings could mean a lot of things. It could be one swear word away from an R-rating, and sometimes they have some sexual content that I’m just not too keen on my youngest ones watching, especially when I’m not prepared. I’m not going to give anything away, because going into it I really didn’t know what the story was about, and I think that’s fun. I didn’t watch any of the trailers all the way through and even though I feel like we’ve been totally bombarded with Barbie promos, I somehow managed to go in pretty blind.
I’m going to try to help you do the same and keep to the basics, but give you information so you have an idea of the Barbie movie age rating 2023. This will also help me publish this faster as I wasn’t able to attend an advance screening for the movie so I bought tickets for the first show so I could write this Barbie movie parent guide ASAP.
Is the 2023 Barbie Movie Kid Friendly?
The colorful images of Barbie sliding across our Roku TV and Alexa devices have even my 5-year-old daughter familiar with the film and excited to see this movie. Parents need to know that Barbie has some mild language including the d word, one bleeped out f-word, a sequence showing lots of beer drinking, a woman getting slapped on the behind, and getting lots of cat calls from men. There’s also some references to genitals specifically saying “vagina” and “penis.” Some silly fighting and mild where no one is injured. The movie surprisingly has some serious themes touching on feminism the patriarchy, stereotypes and gender roles. While this might be enjoyable for some of the more mature audience members, it could definitely go over the heads of the younger Barbie fans.
I’d be doing a disservice to the movie if I left it at that. The film is a think piece about the meaning of Barbie. What she means to those of us who played with her as kids, what Barbie means to girls today and what Barbie might mean in the future. There are a lot of wonderful discussions you can have with your kids after seeing this movie. I’ll come back and update this review with media literacy questions later.
Barbie Movie 2023 Age Rating
I took my 13-year-old to watch the movie. My 10-year-old son has no interest is seeing it and even though my 5-year-old LOVES Barbies, sees all the ads, and is begging to see it, I wanted to at least watch it first. While I think Lee Lee would enjoy the beginning and parts of the movie featuring Barbieland, she would quickly loose interest in the story.
I’d be lying if I said she hasn’t already seen a questionable amount of PG-13 movies thanks to her older siblings. So from some Avengers movies, to Transformers, there are some movie I’ve let slide for action content, but I’ve filtered with VidAngel for language and sexual content. Common Sense Media gives it an age rating of 11-years-old and I’d say about the same, or possibly mature 10-year-olds. My 10-year-old son would not be into it. And my 13-year-old daughter liked it, but didn’t love it. But more on her review in a moment.
Why is Barbie 2023 rated PG-13?
My kids and I all think that PG-13 ratings should be changed to various levels. Ty likes to give some movies PG-8 ratings and so on. Because while G to PG isn’t that drastic, the distance from PG-13 to R is canyon wide and so much is encompassed in the PG-13 ratings.
The MPAA Rating for Barbie is PG-13. And Barbie is rated PG-13 for suggestive references and brief language. Which as I discussed earlier there are a couple of swear words, and subtle sexual references, there’s no nudity and nothing is overt.
The runtime for Barbie is 1 hour and 54 minutes, which is another reason young Barbie fans may want to wait until they are able to comfortably sit and watch it at home.
Here’s my TL:DR video Barbie parent review:
But enough of what I thought, here’s what my 13-year-old daughter has to say about Barbie 2023.
What my daughter thought of Barbie 2023
What did you think of Barbie?
Jayda: I thought it was good. I really loved the first half. By the second half I felt like it got a little too serious and felt longer.
So did you like it? Why or why not?
Jayda: I liked it, I thought it was really funny. It seemed like Barbie, but I didn’t like how long it was. And it seems like it got a little serious. Too serious for my taste.
What life lesson did you learn from ‘Barbie’ 2023? What message do you think the movie trying to get across?
Jayda: That girls are smart. And it’s hard to be perfect.
Who was your favorite character?
Jayda: Barbie.
What was the funniest part to you?
Jayda: There are a lot of funny parts in the first half. Maybe when they were on the beach in the first part.
Who would you recommend ‘Barbie’ 2023 to? Friends or others?
Jayda: My friends, or people who liked Barbie growing up. I think this is more for Genz.
Do you think the 2023 Barbie movie is kid friendly?
Jayda: Yes, it’s kid-friendly. It’s just if it’s little kids, they might not understand, or be a little bored.
What do you think is the Barbie movie age rating?
Jayda: I think a good age–Not meaning people who are younger couldn’t watch it, they just might not enjoy it a much–is 8 or 9 at the youngest.
Did you think the ‘Barbie’ movie was scary?
Jayda: No.
Would you want to watch it again?
Jayda: Yea, but maybe not in theaters.
How would you rank it compared to other movies we’ve seen recently?
Jayda: I liked Elemental a little more but I liked Barbie more than Teenage Kraken. Spider-Man and The Little Mermaid I liked more than Barbie. Not saying I don’t like Barbie, those other movies are just really good.
What was your favorite part?
Jayda: When Barbie went to the real world.
How many stars would you give it?
Jayda: I’d give it 3.5 stars. I would give it 4 if I liked the second half more.
Is it worth going to the movies to see ‘Barbie’ like we did?
Jayda: If you’re a big fan of Barbie I think maybe yea. And it’s really fun to dress up and go to the movie theater.
Is there an End Credit Scene in the Barbie movie 2023?
In the days of MCU and the like, movie goers are trained to sit and wait til the very last credit rolls to see if there are any end-credit scenes in the movie. There is some great music and throwback clips showing old school Barbie products during the beginning credits, but no post credit scene.
Barbie is strutting coming to theaters Friday July 21st. Are you going to see it?
Wondering how our review of Barbie might compare to yours? Check out some of our other movie reviews.
- ‘ELEMENTAL’ MOVIE REVIEW
- ‘SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE’ REVIEW
- ‘TRANSFORMERS RISE OF THE BEAST’ REVIEW
- LIVE ACTION ‘THE LITTLE MERMAID’ REVIEW
- ‘GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3’ REVIEW
- ‘BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER’ REVIEW
- ‘STRANGE WORLD’ REVIEW
- ‘THOR LOVE AND THUNDER’ REVIEW
- ‘JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION’ REVIEW
- ‘DOCTOR STRANGE AND THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS’ REVIEW
- ‘TURNING RED’ MOVIE REVIEW
- ‘SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME’ REVIEW
If you like watching movies together as a family you’ll love our Family Movie Night Journal! Created by me and my oldest daughter Jayda. It’s bringing a family tradition of movie watching and rating to families around the world.
Hi there! 🎀✨
Wow, what a thorough and insightful guide to the new ‘Barbie’ movie! As a mom, this was exactly what I was looking for. Your detailed breakdown really helps to understand what to expect, especially the bits that might be too mature for younger fans.
I absolutely love that the movie explores themes like feminism, stereotypes, and gender roles. It adds an unexpected depth that I think will spark some valuable conversations with my older child.
I’m also fascinated by the thought of Barbie being a “think piece” and reflecting on what she means to different generations. I grew up with Barbie, and now my daughter plays with her. It’s so intriguing to think about the transition and evolution of this iconic character.
Your daughter’s review adds a refreshing perspective! It’s great to hear directly from the target audience. Based on her feedback, I think this will be a hit with my older daughter.
Thank you for taking the time to write this guide. It’s saved me a lot of uncertainty and I’m now more excited to watch the film with my family!