2012 (2009)

2012 parents guide

Nothing past what a PG-13 promises: no sex or nudity and some strong language.

Our estimate: fine from about 13. Rated PG-13.

Scare

Mildly scary

A few tense or eerie moments.

Jump scares

Several

More than a couple of sudden jolts.

Gore

Light gore

Some blood or injury, briefly.

Violence

Strong violence

Violence is frequent or intense.

Sex and nudity

None noted

Language

Moderate

Some strong profanity, a few f-words.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

Three questions

Is 2012 scary?

Only a little. 2012 has a few tense moments, nothing that follows you to bed.

How gory is 2012?

Light gore and strong violence.

What is 2012 rated, and is it OK for kids?

For teens, mostly: it is rated PG-13, with some strong language, strong violence and several jump scares.

What is 2012 about?

Dr. Adrian Helmsley, part of a worldwide geophysical team investigating the effect on the earth of radiation from unprecedented solar storms, learns that the earth's core is heating up. He warns U.S. President Thomas Wilson that the crust of the earth is becoming unstable and that without proper preparations for saving a fraction of the world's population, the entire race is doomed. Meanwhile, writer Jackson Curtis stumbles on the same information. While the world's leaders race to build "arks" to escape the impending cataclysm, Curtis struggles to find a way to save his family. Meanwhile, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes of unprecedented strength wreak havoc around the world.

Cast and crew

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2012 is on our Disasters, Sci-fi on Starz and Action on Starz lists.

More like this feeling

Prompts we typed into CouchRot, and the lists that share its tags.

• “a fun halloween movie, not too scary”
• “scary but not gory”
• “a movie that will make me cry”

Lists with the same feel: Epics and Edge of your seat.