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THE CELEBRATION

“Revealing Dirty Secrets”

Family Content: -2 Extreme caution for older teenagers and adults.

Entertainment Quality:

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Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

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What You Need To Know:

THE CELEBRATION is an excellent, intense and edgy movie, which hooks the viewer in right from the start as it explores a difficult and often hidden subject, child abuse. This year’s Special Jury Prize winner at Cannes makes the viewer feel like they too are in the bosom of a troubled family at a patriarch’s 60th birthday party. The father, Helge, asks his son Christian to say a few words at the upcoming dinner, and Christian does. Instead of pleasantries, Christian directs a horrifying accusation toward his father regarding his father’s sexual abuse of himself and his siblings. A plethora of family jealousies and recriminations unfolds.

Wonderfully acted and filmed professionally in a home-video, low-budget sort of way, the movie does a terrific job of depicting a progressively out-of-control situation without losing its timing or calibration. In essence, it is a skillfully rendered, very intense drama with may unexpected twists on the painful subject of sexual abuse of children. It contains domestic violence, many obscenities and vulgarities, and sexual situations. Even though God or biblical values are not overtly discussed, the truth being told triumphs, showing both its positive and negative consequences, and also depicting the terrible effects of the sins of the father being visited upon his children

Content:

(B, PaPa, LLL, VV, SS, NN, AA, DD) Mildly moral worldview of dysfunctional family with strong pagan elements displayed; 24 obscenities, 17 vulgarities & 1 exclamatory profanity plus racism expressed against blacks & American Indians; excessive inter-family verbal & physical abuse including punching, slapping, kicking, & spitting plus an example of suicide is discussed; incestuous sexual abuse of children discussed, rough marital intercourse displayed & inappropriate touching between two women & between two different sex siblings; full male rear nudity & males & females in underwear; excessive drinking; and, smoking & use of marijuana.

More Detail:

THE CELEBRATION is an excellent, intense and edgy movie, which hooks the viewer in right from the start as it explores a difficult and often hidden subject, child abuse. This year’s Special Jury Prize winner at Cannes makes the viewer feel like they too are in the bosom of a troubled family at a patriarch’s 60th birthday party. The father, Helge, asks his son Christian to say a few words at the upcoming dinner, and Christian does. Instead of pleasantries, Christian directs a horrifying accusation toward his father regarding his father’s sexual abuse of himself and his siblings. A plethora of family jealousies and recriminations unfolds.
Wonderfully acted and filmed professionally in a home-video, low-budget sort of way, the movie does a terrific job of depicting a progressively out-of-control situation without losing its timing or calibration. In essence, it is a skillfully rendered, very intense drama with may unexpected twists on the painful subject of sexual abuse of children. It contains domestic violence, many obscenities and vulgarities, and sexual situations. Even though God or biblical values are not overtly discussed, the truth being told triumphs, showing both its positive and negative consequences, and also depicting the terrible effects of the sins of the father being visited upon his children.