The Day the Earth Stood Still poster

The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)

Film · 1h 44m · Rated PG-13

Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller

An alien visitor delivers a stark ultimatum, forcing humanity to confront its destructive impact on Earth.

Suspenseful and epic. A late-night trip at a measured pace. Emotionally it is heavy.

Streaming on Prime Video.

The Day the Earth Stood Still parents guide

Nothing past what a PG-13 promises: no sex or nudity and mild language.

Rated PG-13, but by what is on screen our estimate is fine from about 7.

Scare
Mildly scary
A few tense or eerie moments.
Jump scares
A couple
One or two sudden jolts.
Gore
No gore
Violence
Some violence
Some fighting or peril.
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

Is The Day the Earth Stood Still scary?
Only a little. The Day the Earth Stood Still has a few tense moments, nothing that follows you to bed.
How gory is The Day the Earth Stood Still?
No gore and some violence. Squeamish viewers are fine here.
What is The Day the Earth Stood Still rated, and is it OK for kids?
Rated PG-13, and mild for one: no sex or nudity and mild language.

What is The Day the Earth Stood Still about?

A representative of an alien race that went through drastic evolution to survive its own climate change, Klaatu comes to Earth to assess whether humanity can prevent the environmental damage they have inflicted on their own planet. When barred from speaking to the United Nations, he decides humankind shall be exterminated so the planet can survive.

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

It leaves the ending open to interpretation.

Cast and crew

Directed byScott Derrickson
StarringKeanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Jaden Smith, Jon Hamm, Kathy Bates, John Cleese

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Uses the TMDB API; not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Intensity, content, tone and pace tags are CouchRot's own.