Batman v Superman

What’s it about?

After Batman is manipulated by Lex Luthor to fear Superman, Superman's existence divides the world, and he is framed for murder during an international crisis. The heroes clash and force the neutral Wonder Woman to reemerge.

The facts

• Directed by Zack Snyder
• Starring Ben Affleck (Gone Girl), Henry Cavill (The Witcher), Amy Adams (Arrival), Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman), and Jeremy Irons (The Lion King)
• English language
• Runtime: 151 minutes

Why did it get this rating?

This film was cross-rated by the Film and Video Labelling Body. You can find out more about cross-rating here.

Violence

Most violence occurs during the extended fight sequence in the last act of the film. It can be brutal with heavy injury detail at times.

Some of the strongest moments of violence include:

• A giant beast-like character causes devastating chaos, brutally beating one character and having its arm cut off by another.
• In a dream scene, a vigilante kills two men with lasers. Their muffled screams and the splatter of their guts is heard, before the vigilante shoves his hand into one of their chest’s as though to rip his heart out.
• One man cuts his hand with a large knife to use his blood for a science experiment. We see blood dripping from his hand but there is no gore.
• In one extended sequence, villains gun down countless unarmed men, before burning the bodies. Blood sprays are shown in the air and on walls behind the victims.
• Several dozen buildings collapse and explode, implying thousands of deaths. None are shown onscreen, but one alive man is found with his legs crushed under rubble.

Frightening scenes

This film is notable darker than other DC films due to the dark and sombre themes and brutal violence. 

In one scene, there is a jump scare when a half-bat half-man jumps out of a grave to eat a man’s throat, before the man wakes up and realizes it was a dream. 

There is a scene where a child watches as his parents are shot and killed in a dark alleyway. Their faces are shown with their eyes still open as they die, with blood sprayed on the mother’s face.

When content stays with you:

We all have our boundaries, and it’s completely okay if something you’ve watched is weighing on your mind. If certain content lingers with you, consider having a chat with friends or whānau to debrief about what you’ve just seen. But if you’re still feeling affected, please reach out to any of the following helplines for support.  

• 1737
• Safe to talk
• Lifeline
• Youthline

Further information

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?
• Brain development – how it works, why it matters