Testament (1983) Poster

(1983)

Parents Guide

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Certification

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Certification

Sex & Nudity

  • There is a frank conversation where the teen daughter asks her mom about sex. Terms "sex" and "making love" are both used.
  • A woman and a priest passionately kiss. It is not a sexual kiss, but rather desperation for human contact after many people have died and they have both lost faith.
  • Tom grabs Carol's breast from beneath her shirt while in bed. She tells him to "get out of there". She then in turn grabs his penis twice (covered by blankets, no nudity) and tells him "this is from..." without disclosing from whom she's talking about. As the scene cuts to black, sex is implied.
  • Tom and Carol lie in bed together (not portrayed in a sexual manner) and embrace each other as Carol begins to suffer from a panic attack. Seven year old Lukas Haas is nude (frontal and rear) in a brief bathing scene.

Violence & Gore

  • Brief shots of dead/dying and severely ill people, but not particularly graphic or gory. Shrouds are seen and bonfires where these shrouds are being burned with people presumably in them.
  • A little boy has severe diarrhea, discolouring his bathwater in the sink. This causes his mother to panic and desperately comfort him.
  • A beloved tree planted by a group of children is shown dead with brown leaves, killed by exposure to radiation.
  • Guns and improvised weaponry are shown; nobody is actually shot and killed at any point.
  • Fights and arguments frequently occur. At one point, a looting incident occurs in which physical fighting ensues, but no serious injuries.
  • A suicide attempt is made, but the characters decide not to go through with it.
  • Although there is very little to no actual violence, the film deals with mature thematic material that may disturb some viewers, involving the literal and psychological destruction of a population. Some disturbing elements include but are not limited to: the deaths of the children of Carol; the death of the father of Hiroshi; the mystery behind the actual state of Tom; the death of a newborn due to radiation poisoning.

Profanity

  • Profanity is infrequent; words used include "hell", "damn", "goddamn", "make/making love", "sex", "cripple", "oh god", "god" and mild teasing/name-calling.

Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking

Frightening & Intense Scenes

  • This film portrays life after nuclear fallout. It's difficult to watch and might trigger some viewers with its realistic and brutal depiction of a slowly-dying society.
  • A mentally disabled boy loses his father. His father dies, leaving his son surrounded by canned food but forgetting to show him how to use a can opener. The boy is brought home by a family friend who takes him in.
  • A severely ill police officer appears to be going mad, getting sick and making bizarre statements as he stumbles, being comforted by another party. The scene is quite intense.
  • A mother panics and suffers a bout of extreme grief upon being unable to bury her youngest son, who has just died, with his teddy bear.
  • A small tree is seen dead with brown leaves after being exposed to radiation, a tragic event as the Weatherly Family loved the tree and its death is also a sign of severe radiation in the town's air supply (see 'Violence & Gore').
  • Talk of dead/dying animals.
  • A priest has a crisis of faith and passionately kisses a woman; he ceases to appear afterwards in the film, implying his death has occurred.
  • Eerie music and frequent cutaways to old nostalgic super 8 home movies create a very emotional atmosphere that may upset some viewers.
  • There are two scenes in particular which some viewers may find intense and include: when the nuclear bomb is dropped we see a bright, blinding light fill the screen; when Carol walks down the street she finds a large pile of bodies being burned.

Spoilers

The Parents Guide items below may give away important plot points.

Frightening & Intense Scenes

  • Multiple supporting characters die or are said to have died, including Carol's mother and husband, Henry and his wife, Scottie, Mary Liz, Mike and an infant baby, among others.
  • Carol, Brad and Hiroshi make a suicide pact and sit in their running car, waiting to be overtaken by carbon monoxide poisoning in the garage. They decide not to go through with the pact and instead celebrate Brad's birthday as they await an uncertain future.

See also

Taglines | Plot Summary | Synopsis | Plot Keywords


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