R (Restricted)

How to read it

R is the first of the two restrictive ratings among the five the MPA’s Classification and Rating Administration gives films. In the rules’ words, an R-rated film “contains some adult material” and may include adult themes, adult activity, hard language, intense or persistent violence, sexually oriented nudity, drug abuse or other elements, “so that parents are counseled to take this rating very seriously.” Children under 17 may not attend unless accompanied by a parent or adult guardian. The rules add that it is generally not appropriate for parents to bring their young children to R-rated films. Every R film carries a descriptor naming the content that earned the rating.

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Who enforces the age limit

The MPA says most US theaters, as members of the theater owners’ association Cinema United, enforce the ratings, and that many have their own policies on admitting children to R-rated films, though the ratings themselves do not stop parents from bringing younger children. In 1999 the National Association of Theatre Owners announced, with President Clinton, that theaters would start asking young people for photo identification at R-rated films. A Federal Trade Commission survey in 2000 sent 13- to 16-year-olds to buy tickets on their own: 54% were turned away from R-rated films. In 2001 the FTC printed the rating with the note “age varies in some locations”.

The descriptor names only the R-level content

A descriptor lists only the content strong enough to earn the rating. The rules give an example: an R film whose descriptor names only sexual content may still have language or violence, but at a PG-13 level or lower.

Under 16 at first

When the ratings began in 1968, R kept out children under 16 without a parent or guardian. The age was later raised to under 17.

R and TV-MA

The nearest TV rating is TV-MA, for programs designed for adults that may be unsuitable for children under 17. TV ratings do not restrict who watches; they work with the V-chip and other parental controls, which can block programs by rating.