The Color Purple (1985)

The Color Purple parents guide

Heads up on strong sex and nudity. That is past what the PG-13 on the box suggests. Beyond that, mild language and strong violence.

Our estimate: 18 and up, higher than the PG-13 suggests, because of the sex and nudity.

Scare

Mildly scary

A few tense or eerie moments.

Jump scares

None noted

Gore

Light gore

Some blood or injury, briefly.

Violence

Strong violence

Violence is frequent or intense.

Sex and nudity

Strong

Strong means explicit or repeated sex, extended nudity, or sexual assault shown on screen, attempted or completed, even partly off screen. Any one of these is enough.

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 Color Purple scary?

Only a little. The Color Purple has a few tense moments, nothing that follows you to bed.

How gory is The Color Purple?

Light gore and strong violence.

What is The Color Purple rated, and is it OK for kids?

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

What is The Color Purple about?

An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie's abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing 'Mister' Albert Johnson, things go from bad to worse, leaving Celie to find companionship anywhere she can. She perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister in Africa.

Cast and crew

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The Color Purple is on our Prison, 1980s and Drama on Tubi 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 and Epics.