City of Ember poster

City of Ember (2008)

Film · 1h 35m · Rated PG

Adventure, Family, Fantasy

Teenagers race against time in a subterranean city where the lights are failing and secrets are buried.

Suspenseful. A family watch at a measured pace. Emotionally it carries some weight.

Not on a US subscription service as of Oct 28, 2026.

City of Ember parents guide

It stays inside its PG, with mild language and nothing scary.

Our estimate: fine from about 7. Rated PG.

Scare
Not scary
Jump scares
A couple
One or two sudden jolts.
Gore
No gore
Violence
Some violence
Some fighting or peril.
Sex and nudity
None noted
Language
Mild
Mild words like damn, hell or crap.

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.

What is City of Ember about?

For generations, the people of the City of Ember have flourished in an amazing world of glittering lights. But Ember's once powerful generator is failing and the great lamps that illuminate the city are starting to flicker. Now, two teenagers, in a race against time, must search Ember for clues that will unlock the ancient mystery of the city's existence, before the the lights go out forever.

Does it have a happy ending? (spoiler-safe)

It leaves things open rather than tying them up.

Cast and crew

Directed byGil Kenan
StarringSaoirse Ronan, Harry Treadaway, Bill Murray, David Ryall, Tim Robbins, Mackenzie Crook

More like City of Ember

More like this feeling

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

Lists with the same feel: Family night.

Five more like City of Ember

Say the mood. Five picks with where they stream, right here.

Uses the TMDB API; not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Intensity, content, tone and pace tags are CouchRot's own.