King Lear (TV Movie 2008) Poster

(2008 TV Movie)

Parents Guide

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Certification

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Certification

Sex & Nudity

  • There is implied adultery between a man and two women (both of whom are married for at least part of the time their affairs are taking place). It is condemned by the noble characters and the play as a whole.
  • A few of Lear's knights are briefly shown chasing a servant girl. One man tries to grope her, but she screams and runs away and nothing else happens.
  • In a fit of insanity, Lear strips naked out in the heavy thunderstorm, but very little actual nudity is ever seen (we get a very brief and partial glimpse of his buttocks).

Violence & Gore

  • A man cuts his own arm and draws blood to make it seem like another man has stabbed him in order to falsely accuse him.
  • One man defends himself from another by hitting him with his staff, knocking him to the ground. He then grabs the man's sword and runs him through his chest. Intense scene but not very bloody.
  • A man is captured by Cornwall's soldiers and lynched. The man is shown crying while the noose is put around his neck, and we see him die and hear his neck break when the soldiers pull away the stool. This is a pretty brutal scene, though it is relatively quick.
  • One brief albeit very graphic and disturbing scene of torture and mutilation a little over half-way through the film (described below).
  • The final scene of the play (also described below) is quite violent and sad, though this film's depiction of it is not overly gory.

Profanity

Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking

  • Some consumption of wine by adults.

Frightening & Intense Scenes

  • The film as a whole is an intense tragedy of violence, hatred, and familial as well as civil strife. The play centers around acts of betrayal and deception.

Spoilers

The Parents Guide items below may give away important plot points.

Violence & Gore

  • The Duke of Cornwall is shown ripping Gloucester's eyes out of their sockets while he is tied to a chair and screams in agony. Blood and gore is shown squirting and dripping out of his eye sockets. This is the only really violent scene in the movie and only lasts for a few minutes, but it is extremely graphic.
  • In the same scene, a servant draws his sword to try and stop Cornwall from ripping out Gloucester's other eye. Regan stabs the servant in the back and kills him, but not before the servant mortally wounds Cornwall. Cornwall coughs up blood while blood is also seen pouring out of his chest. Cornwall then rips out Gloucester's other eye before dying.
  • After this scene, Gloucester is seen throughout the film with a bloody rag over his eye sockets as he wanders blindly through the wilderness. This is not particularly gory, but it can be disturbing and sad.
  • The ending scene results in almost every characters' death. Regan is poisoned by Goneril. Edmund is mortally wounded by Edgar after being defeated in the duel. Goneril commits suicide. Cordelia is executed off-stage and brought on the stage/screen by her father, King Lear. King Lear then dies of grief and anguish. This is all in Shakespeare's play, and it is depicted in a startling albeit not very gory way.

Frightening & Intense Scenes

  • (Deleted. Personal opinions about ratings are not appropriate for the Parents Guide.)

See also

Taglines | Plot Summary | Synopsis | Plot Keywords


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