Paycheck (2003)

Paycheck parents guide

No surprises for a PG-13: some innuendo or implied sex and some strong language.

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

Scare

Not scary

Jump scares

A couple

One or two sudden jolts.

Gore

Light gore

Some blood or injury, briefly.

Violence

Strong violence

Violence is frequent or intense.

Sex and nudity

Mild

Mild means innuendo, or sex implied off screen, with no nudity.

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 Paycheck scary?

No. Paycheck is not a scary watch.

How gory is Paycheck?

Light gore and strong violence.

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

It is rated PG-13, with some strong language and strong violence. Your call for older kids.

What is Paycheck about?

Michael Jennings is a genius who's hired – and paid handsomely – by high-tech firms to work on highly sensitive projects, after which his short-term memory is erased so he's incapable of breaching security. But at the end of a three-year job, he's told he isn't getting a paycheck and instead receives a mysterious envelope. In it are clues he must piece together to find out why he wasn't paid – and why he's now in hot water.

Cast and crew

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Paycheck is on our Thriller on Paramount+, Sci-fi on Paramount+, Mystery on Paramount+, Sci-fi on Kanopy and Mystery on Kanopy lists.

More like this feeling

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

• “a thriller with a twist, no spoilers”
• “scary but not gory”
• “a horror movie that's actually scary”