The Dink

What’s it about?

A washed-up tennis pro who, in trying to save a club in crisis and win his father’s respect, is forced to break a solemn vow and do the one thing he swore he’d never do: play pickleball.

The facts 

• Directed by Josh Greenbaum (Will & Harper)
• Starring Jake Johnson (Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed), Mary Steenburgen (A Man on the Inside), Aaron Chen (Fisk), and Ed Harris (The Truman Show)
• English language 
• Runtime: 103 minutes

Why did it get this rating? 

This film was self-rated by Apple TV. You can find out more about self-rating by streaming providers here.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references and sexual innuendos, including:

• One character repeatedly refers to a sex-work website.
• A number of verbal euphemisms for masturbation are used, with hand gestures.
• Characters who are pretending to be together awkwardly mention how they were late because they were “trying to make a grandson” and “love the way sex feels”.
• A character admits to cheating on their ex with multiple people, and a threesome is implied.
• A character admits having sexual attraction to a ship.
• There is a pickleball pair who grunt when they hit the ball, and other characters comment that sounds sexual, then decide to do the same when they hit the ball.

Violence

The violence depicted is mild. The strongest incidents include:

• People playing tennis and pickleball fall over.
• A man accidentally drives his car into a skip bin, which makes the airbag go off. He is not injured.
• A man is killed by an owl attack. We see the owl start to swoop, and the man looking worried, before the camera cuts away.

Offensive language

There is some use of coarse and offensive language, including “bitch”, “bastard”, “sh*t” and “f*ck”.

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?