American History X (1998)

American History X parents guide

For an R, this one goes further: strong sex and nudity. Beyond that, brutal violence and frequent strong language.

Scare

Mildly scary

A few tense or eerie moments.

Jump scares

None noted

Gore

Graphic gore

Blood and wounds shown clearly.

Violence

Brutal violence

Our top level for violence.

Sex and nudity

Strong

Strong means explicit or repeated sex, extended nudity, or sexual assault shown on screen, attempted or completed, even partly off screen. Any one of these is enough.

Language

Strong

Frequent strong profanity or slurs.

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 American History X scary?

Only a little. American History X has a few tense moments, nothing that follows you to bed.

How gory is American History X?

Graphic gore and brutal violence. If graphic gore is a dealbreaker, skip it.

What is American History X rated, and is it OK for kids?

Rated R, and it earns it: strong sex and nudity, brutal violence, and frequent strong language. Not one for kids.

What is American History X about?

Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for killing two African-American men. Through his brother, Danny Vineyard's narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader of a violent white supremacist gang that committed acts of racial crime throughout L.A. and his actions greatly influenced Danny. Reformed and fresh out of prison, Derek severs contact with the gang and becomes determined to keep Danny from going down the same violent path as he did.

Cast and crew

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American History X is on our Most violent, Tearjerkers, Prison, Set in Los Angeles and 1990s lists.

More like this feeling

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

• “a movie that will make me cry”
• “a thriller with a twist, no spoilers”
• “funny but not stupid, under two hours”