Star Wars Sequels Trilogy

What’s it about?

The Star Wars sequel trilogy follows Rey, a scavenger with a mysterious past, as she discovers her connection to the force and joins with the Resistance to stop the First Order from maintaining their reign of tyranny over the galaxy.

Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)

Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)

Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

The facts

• Directed by J.J. Abrams (The Force Awakens, The Rise of Skywalker), Rian Johnson (The Last Jedi).
• Starring Daisy Ridley (Murder on the Orient Express), John Boyega (Attack the Block), Adam Driver (Marriage Story), Oscar Isaac, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Lupita Nyong’o.
• English language
• Runtime: 143 minutes per film, on average
• All three sequels are individually rated M violence
• Received 12 Academy Award nominations

Why did it get this rating?

These films were cross-rated by the Film and Video Labelling Body. You can find out more about cross-rating here.

Violence

The trilogy contains regular fantasy action scenes including futuristic guns and sword weapons, some of which involve characters being injured or killed.

Many large spaceships are destroyed with large explosions and sometimes whole planets are blown up, with millions of deaths implied.

Some of the strongest violence in the trilogy include:

• Characters are held captive and some are telepathically tortured, causing extreme pain and exhaustion.
• One woman commandeering a bombing ship is blown up offscreen when her ship explodes, but there is no gore.
• A powerful man slays tens of masked people with a laser sword, cutting one of their arm’s off. The victims have bright burn marks from the sword, but no blood is seen.
• We see a man’s skin disintegrating and peeling away into dust as he is shot with a burst of lightning, before he evaporates.

Content that may disturb

• A group of soldiers are ordered to murder a town of civilians. One soldier is very shocked at the order and some of the victims’ blood splashes on his helmet as he panics.
• A father is stabbed and killed by his son, before falling into a void to his death.

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