Is The 5th Wave scary?

Only a little. The 5th Wave has a few tense moments, nothing that follows you to bed.

How gory is The 5th Wave?

Light gore and strong violence.

What is The 5th Wave rated, and is it OK for kids?

For teens, mostly: it is rated PG-13, with strong violence and several jump scares.

The 5th Wave (2016)

Film · 1h 52m · Rated PG-13

Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

A young woman navigates a devastated Earth, fighting for survival against an alien invasion's relentless waves.

Suspenseful and epic. A full-attention watch at a brisk pace. Emotionally it is heavy.

Streaming on Netflix.

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The 5th Wave parents guide

Nothing past what a PG-13 promises: some innuendo or implied sex and mild language.

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

Scare: Mildly scary; A few tense or eerie moments.
Jump scares: Several; More than a couple of 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: 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 The 5th Wave scary?: Only a little. The 5th Wave has a few tense moments, nothing that follows you to bed.
How gory is The 5th Wave?: Light gore and strong violence.
What is The 5th Wave rated, and is it OK for kids?: For teens, mostly: it is rated PG-13, with strong violence and several jump scares.

What is The 5th Wave about?

16-year-old Cassie Sullivan tries to survive in a world devastated by the waves of an alien invasion that has already decimated the population and knocked mankind back to the Stone Age.

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

It leaves things open rather than tying them up.