Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

Rebel Without a Cause parents guide

No surprises for a PG-13: no sex or nudity and mild language.

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

Scare

Not scary

Jump scares

None noted

Gore

Light gore

Some blood or injury, briefly.

Violence

Strong violence

Violence is frequent or intense.

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.

Three questions

How gory is Rebel Without a Cause?

Light gore and strong violence.

What is Rebel Without a Cause rated, and is it OK for kids?

Rated PG-13. Expect strong violence, so it suits teens more than kids.

What is Rebel Without a Cause about?

After moving to a new town, troublemaking teen Jim Stark is supposed to have a clean slate, although being the new kid in town brings its own problems. While searching for some stability, Stark forms a bond with a disturbed classmate, Plato, and falls for local girl Judy. However, Judy is the girlfriend of neighborhood tough, Buzz. When Buzz violently confronts Jim and challenges him to a drag race, the new kid's real troubles begin.

Cast and crew

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Rebel Without a Cause is on our Coming of age, Classics (pre-1970) and Sports 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”

Lists with the same feel: Tearjerkers.