Night Swim parent guide: Is the horror movie really a PG-13?

The time has come for the first horror movie of 2024. Night Swim is all about a pool that kills people. It’s a horror, so you would expect it to have an R rating. Well, the official rating may surprise you.

Night Swim is officially rated PG-13. That’s the same as M3GAN, Five Nights at Freddy’s, and a few other lighter horror movies of recent years. It’s going to be one of those that you can take your kids to see. Well, the older ones, at least.

PG-13 means that it is suitable for those 13 and over without parental guidance. It could be suitable for younger children, but it’s not recommended. There are going to be some scary moments. Of course, you know your kids best. I have an 11-year-old, and I have a feeling this will be perfect for her considering she loved M3GAN and Five Nights at Freddy’s.

Why is Night Swim rated PG-13?

PG-13 horror means that it has some terrorizing moments, but nothing too serious. The horror doesn’t really have much of an impact. The teens will know the deaths happen, but they’re not shown on screen. A lot is left to the imagination. Sometimes that’s scarier than actually seeing it; especially if you have an overactive imagination.

There is some language in the movie, as you would expect in a horror. Don’t expect any F-bombs and definitely don’t expect any C-bombs. The worst word you’re likely to hear is the S-word. That’s probably only going to be a couple of times. Hell and damn are the usual choices for PG-13 movies. Think of what you’d see in a TV-14 broadcast show.

There will be a little bit of violent content. Like with the terror, it’s going to be left to the imagination. The intense and frightening scenes are set as the most severe out of all reasons for high ratings, according to IMDb. This horror is going to be on the mild side, making it likely a good one to get teenagers into the genre.

Night Swim is in theaters on Friday, Jan. 5.