Making Wise Entertainment Choices: How to Use a Plugged In Review

Hollywood’s movie awards season fired off its first salvo this past weekend at the Golden Globes, with many more awards ceremonies to follow. And while awards shows are far less popular than they’ve been in the past, they still hold influence in our current cultural landscape. According to the Associated Press, 6 in 10 U.S. adults said that they had watched an awards show (or clips from an awards show) in the past year.

That kind of awareness can have an impact on our media choices.

Should I Watch It?

When movies like One Battle After Another, Hamnet and KPop Demon Hunters take home awards-show hardware, that bestows a sort of cultural legitimacy. These are important works in entertainment, it seems to say. Don’t miss them. And while the explosion of entertainment options (due largely to streaming services) over the past several years has contributed to the decline of our media monoculture, positive press still has a pull.

When you see a film showered with praise and golden statuettes, you might ask yourself, Should I watch it?

Here’s the thing: Hollywood isn’t concerned about whether you should watch something. That’d be like going to a car dealership and asking if you should buy a new car. The answer, invariably, will be yes.

But the truth is there are some things that we shouldn’t watch. What those things are will vary from person to person. Oh, sure, there are some films that you could argue no one should watch—last year’s grotesque and blasphemous The Carpenter’s Son comes to mind. But more often than not, the answer to that question will be determined by each individual’s own convictions and knowledge of self.

Should I watch it?

That’s the question that Plugged In is here to help you answer. Millions of people come to our site each year looking for detailed information about what’s really popular in entertainment, and what’s really in popular entertainment. Industry ratings—such as the Motion Picture Association’s G, PG, PG-13 and R distinctions—only tell you so much. We go deeper, diving into the specific content and its context within a biblical worldview.

So, should you watch it? The truth is that we won’t give you a definitive yes or no. Rather, we’ll give you as much information about the movie’s content as we can to help you make an informed decision. Sure, there are some films that we might lean more heavily toward one answer or the other. Even so, some movies with harsh content can have surprisingly positive messages. And even great family films can have some tricky elements to navigate.

In short, the answer to “Should I watch it” will always depend on the viewer, not the reviewer.

With that in mind, we thought we’d dive into how we structure our Plugged In movie reviews—and how you can use them to help you (and your family) make wise entertainment choices.

The Plugged In Movie Review

Each movie review is made up of 10 distinct sections. That may seem like a lot, but we’ve organized our reviews in this way to help our users find exactly what they need as efficiently as possible.

1. Parents’ Guide Overview
2. Movie Review
3. Positive Elements
4. Spiritual Elements
5. Sexual & Romantic Content
6. Violent Content
7. Crude or Profane Language
8. Drug & Alcohol Content
9. Other Noteworthy Elements
10. Conclusion

Parents’ Guide Overview

First, we have the Parents’ Guide Overview, which is designed to give a short summary of the film, touching on the plot and major content concerns. While we’ll always encourage our users to read the rest of the review (a 50-word synopsis doesn’t usually capture the details and nuances contained in a full write-up), we do understand the value of a concise summary—especially for those who need to make a quick decision as to whether they or their family should watch a film.

Movie Review

You can think of this section as more of an introduction to the film’s plot. We lay out the basic premise of the story and introduce some of the main characters. It’s helpful to understand the context of the film and, for some, this may tell them all they need to know about whether to watch something or not.

Positive Elements

In this section, we list the positive elements that viewers should know about. Even a movie with serious content issues may still have positive messages and moments—and those are highlighted here.

A quick note: Positive elements that concern faith and spirituality are reserved for the next section.

Spiritual Elements

Here, we list all spiritual elements found in a film, whether good, bad or neutral. If a movie is informed by or promotes a particular religious (or counter-religious) worldview, that will be detailed in this section.

Sexual & Romantic Content

This section covers all sexual or romantic content. Though content in this section can be perceived as uniformly negative, that isn’t always the case. For example, if a man and woman share a kiss on their wedding day, that content wouldn’t be negative, but we will note it for readers.

It should also be noted that this section typically excludes content about sexual assault/harassment (which will be noted in Violent Content) or puberty, menstruation and birth (listed in Other Noteworthy Elements). However, that wasn’t always the case. So if you see an older review with that type of content listed here, just keep in mind that this decision was made more recently in response to user suggestions.

Violent Content

In this section, we list all violent content found in a film. This would include instances of sexual harassment and/or assault. There can be a marked difference between the type of violence seen in different films—a slapstick comedy versus a graphic war film, for instance. But we’ll explain that as needed in this section.

Crude or Profane Language

All profanity is included here, including abuses of the Lord’s name. Racial or sexual slurs will also be detailed here, along with rude phrases and gestures.

Drug & Alcohol Content

We’ll note all drug and alcohol content in this section, whether these things merely make an appearance or are being used and/or abused. In certain instances, use of medication may be listed here, too.

Other Noteworthy Elements

This section details all remaining content of note—both good and bad—including but not limited to nonviolent deaths and crimes, natural bodily functions, puberty, menstruation, birth or other negative elements that don’t quite fit into the other categories (such as lying).

Conclusion

The conclusion provides our final thoughts and may include a deeper discussion of the themes, artistic merits or even the wider conversation surrounding a given film. While Plugged In doesn’t make official recommendations regarding entertainment, you can get a good sense of what the reviewer thought of the film in this section. When appropriate, we remark on how navigable a film might be for a family audience.

How to Use Plugged In Reviews

That’s a peek behind the curtain at Plugged In! And if you’ve browsed our site for any length of time, you’ve probably realized that we don’t just review movies. We have hundreds of reviews covering TV shows, video games, books, music and even YouTube channels. While those reviews follow a slightly different structure than our movie template, each still includes the positive elements and content concerns of a given piece of entertainment.

So, how can you use our reviews to make wise entertainment choices for yourself and your family?

First, we encourage a bit of prayerful self-examination. Every person is unique and will have different sensitivities. Acknowledge the types of content you might struggle with if you see them in a movie or read them in a book. Some people will find themselves more affected by violence. Others may want to avoid depictions of alcohol use. This honest, private evaluation isn’t meant to shame you but to set you up for success when navigating today’s entertainment.

Next, as you consider consuming a piece of entertainment, check out the always-free review for it right here at Plugged In. And if we don’t have the review you’re looking for, you can always request it by sending a message to letters@pluggedin.com. We can’t always guarantee that we’ll be able to cover it, but we’ll at least take your request into consideration.

Finally, make your decision. Should I watch it? Ultimately, that’s up to you. Plugged In is here to help you make wise, discerning entertainment choices to protect yourself and your family. But listen carefully to any convictions that God may lay on your heart.