Fanny and Alexander (1982)

Fanny and Alexander parents guide

It stays inside its R, with moderate sex and nudity, and some violence.

Scare

Mildly scary

A few tense or eerie moments.

Jump scares

None noted

Gore

No gore

Violence

Some violence

Some fighting or peril.

Sex and nudity

Moderate

Moderate means a sex scene or nudity on screen, even brief, or sexual violence that is described or implied but never shown.

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.

Three questions

Is Fanny and Alexander scary?

Only a little. Fanny and Alexander has a few tense moments, nothing that follows you to bed.

How gory is Fanny and Alexander?

No gore and some violence. Squeamish viewers are fine here.

What is Fanny and Alexander rated, and is it OK for kids?

Rated R, and it earns it: moderate sex and nudity. Not one for kids.

What is Fanny and Alexander about?

As children in the loving Ekdahl family, Fanny and Alexander enjoy a happy life with their parents, who run a theater company. After their father dies unexpectedly, however, the siblings end up in a joyless home when their mother, Emilie, marries a stern bishop. The bleak situation gradually grows worse as the bishop becomes more controlling, but dedicated relatives make a valiant attempt to aid Emilie, Fanny and Alexander.

Cast and crew

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Fanny and Alexander is on our Christmas, Over 3 hours, 1980s, Mystery on Max and Fantasy on Max lists.

More like this feeling

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

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

Lists with the same feel: Tearjerkers and Weird and surreal.