The Manchurian Candidate poster

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

Film · 2h 10m · Rated R

Drama, Mystery, Thriller

A Gulf War veteran uncovers a sinister plot as a decorated hero's political power grows.

Suspenseful and tense. A full-attention watch at a measured pace. Emotionally it is heavy.

Streaming on Starz, Kanopy (free) and Hoopla (free).

The Manchurian Candidate parents guide

Of what we could confirm, nothing runs past an R: strong violence and some strong language.

Scare
Mildly scary
A few tense or eerie moments.
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
None flagged
It is rated R, so treat our zero as unconfirmed.
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 The Manchurian Candidate scary?
Only a little. The Manchurian Candidate has a few tense moments, nothing that follows you to bed.
How gory is The Manchurian Candidate?
Light gore and strong violence.
What is The Manchurian Candidate rated, and is it OK for kids?
No. It is rated R, with strong violence and some strong language.

What is The Manchurian Candidate about?

Years after his squad was ambushed during the Gulf War, Major Ben Marco finds himself having terrible nightmares. He begins to doubt that his fellow squad-mate Sergeant Raymond Shaw, now a vice-presidential candidate, is the hero he remembers him being. As Marco's doubts deepen, Shaw's political power grows, and, when Marco finds a mysterious implant embedded in his back, the memory of what really happened begins to return.

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

There is a twist, and that is all we are saying.

Cast and crew

Directed byJonathan Demme
StarringDenzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schreiber, Simon McBurney, Kimberly Elise, Bruno Ganz

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The Manchurian Candidate is on our Thriller on Starz, Drama on Starz, Mystery on Starz, Mystery on Kanopy and Thriller on Hoopla lists.

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