What Is Moonfall Rated? What Parents Should Know Before Letting Their Kids Watch

The Roland Emmerich sci-fi disaster film "Moonfall" hit theaters this past February and is currently available for streaming on several platforms, including HBO Max, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. It stars Patrick Wilson and Halle Berry as astronauts sent on an emergency mission when it's discovered that the moon is falling from its orbit and will soon break into pieces, destroying the Earth. John Bradley also stars as K.C. Houseman, a conspiracy theorist who clues NASA in to the impending disaster. "Moonfall" is thematically and visually similar to other disaster films like "Armageddon" and Emmerich's own 2004 production, "The Day After Tomorrow." It is rated PG-13 and contains frightening scenes and other elements that may concern parents with young children interested in viewing the film.

There is frequent use of profanity during "Moonfall," including multiple uses of "s—," "f—," and "damn." Guns are shown frequently, and some of the young characters are shot at in one scene, although none of them are apparently struck by bullets. One character smokes a joint, and multiple scenes show civil unrest, including rioting and fires being set. 

Several astronauts are killed violently when an octopus-like space creature attacks them, and there are many scenes showing natural disasters of various kinds, including floods, an earthquake, fires, and large pieces of the moon falling to Earth. People are shown dying from drowning, car accidents, and being crushed by falling pieces of the moon. There is no nudity or sexual content in "Moonfall."

"Moonfall" was not well-received, earning a pedestrian 35% rating from critics at Rotten Tomatoes. Dallas King of flickfeast praised Roland Emmerich's previous work in the space-disaster genre but criticized "Moonfall" heavily for failing to deliver a potentially compelling story. "This is science fiction that is light on science and heavy on the fiction," King wrote. "It's like the film had an actual scientist with them in the writer's room at the start who just gave up and walked off as the plot progressed." 

Audience members may find themselves similarly walking away from the ending of "Moonfall," as the film's preposterous conclusion involves the discovery of an AI-powered white dwarf star in the moon's core, the president ordering a nuclear strike on the moon, and the moon's AI reappearing as K.C.'s cat, Fuzz Aldrin. King noted, "The third act of this film goes to places that are so insane that it will leave audiences slack-jawed, open-mouthed and shaking their heads in utter disbelief to what they are witnessing."