Notice: All forms on this website are temporarily down for maintenance. You will not be able to complete a form to request information or a resource. We apologize for any inconvenience and will reactivate the forms as soon as possible.

Content Caution

HeavyKids
HeavyTeens
HeavyAdults
bride hard

Credits

In Theaters

Cast

Home Release Date

Director

Distributor

Reviewer

Bret Eckelberry
  • Previous
  • Next

Movie Review

Sam and Betsy were inseparable growing up. The best of friends. Then Betsy’s family moved, and the girls lost touch. But they never forgot the close friendship they shared.

Now, years later, Betsy is getting married. And she’s picked Sam to be her maid of honor. The other bridesmaids don’t understand Betsy’s choice, especially her future sister-in-law, Virginia. Sam disappears for long stretches of time, vacating her duties as the bride’s bestie, only to return armed with the flimsiest of excuses.

Well, there’s a reason for that.

See, Sam is a secret agent. And a good one, at that. But the any-time-day-or-night spy life has little concern for bridal showers and bachelorette parties. And the covert nature of her work prevents Sam from letting Betsy know the real reason she’s been skipping out on the pre-wedding festivities.

Finally, Betsy has had enough. She and Sam have a bit of a falling out, and Betsy makes Virginia her new maid of honor.

Though devastated, Sam still decides to attend her friend’s wedding at Betsy’s soon-to-be-in-laws opulent estate. Unfortunately, things between them do not improve, and Sam is asked to leave.

Just then, terrorists storm the wedding, taking all but Sam hostage. The terrorists are after something in the estate’s secret vault.

And they’re willing to kill to get it.

Now, Sam must use all her secret agent skills to save the day and, more importantly, her best friend’s wedding


Positive Elements

Sam and Betsy truly cherish their friendship from their younger days, and we see that relationship renewed as the film progresses.

Ryan, Betsy’s fiancé, is very kind; and it’s obvious he loves Betsy very much. We hear that Betsy’s parents have a strong marriage. A bridesmaid gives a heartfelt speech to a friend. Another bridesmaid cedes the spotlight to one who is more deserving. We hear that a family cared for a child whose father went to prison.

People risk their lives for one another. A man puts himself between a gun and his pregnant wife. Sam is a skilled operative, springing to action to thwart the bad guys and save lives.

Spiritual Elements

One of Ryan’s groomsmen wears a clerical collar, which prompts a bridesmaid to talk about having sex with Catholic men. Betsy responds that the man is likely a Protestant. Later, the same bridesmaid tells the man that he probably wishes he “would have sinned more,” and he agrees.

Sexual & Romantic Content

A near-constant stream of suggestive dialogue and situations flows throughout Bride Hard. References to sexual acts are either stated outright or veiled as thinly as possible. The same can be said about references to both male and female anatomy.

A woman imitates a sexual act. Crude terms for sex are used. We hear references to masturbation and STDs. Many jokes contain sexual implications.

Male strippers dance suggestively on and around Sam and Betsy. Women eat food plated atop a shirtless man. A woman says she can never have “safe sex” due to her latex allergy. A handsome groomsman is ogled. Women wear revealing dresses. A man’s shirt is partially destroyed, revealing his muscular torso. A woman refers to her “ample chest.” Sam describes her breasts as “emotional support boobs.”

Bridesmaids receive a non-sexual massage, but some seem to have an almost carnal reaction to it. Sam crassly likens a man to a sex worker.

A joke references Madonna’s song “Like a Virgin.” Someone briefly questions a character’s sexual preferences. A man and a woman are married. We hear that Sam’s mom has been divorced four times.

There is a mention of a sex toy in an outtake during the movie’s credits.

Violent Content

Bride Hard contains plenty of violence, but it’s less visceral and more expressly comedic than what we’d find in some other R-rated shoot-em-ups. People are shot, beaten, burned, electrocuted and exploded, but blood onscreen is limited.

The goriest death occurs when a mercenary gets impaled on a particularly sharp wedding decoration: We see the bloody point of the decoration protrude from the man’s chest. We also glimpse a man’s bloody pantleg after he is shot. Some blood also accompanies some minor injuries.

Sam is a resourceful fighter, using all sorts of available items to kill or maim the terrorists. A man is shot in the head. Another’s hand is pinned to a wall with a knife. Someone falls from a window into a bakery van and appears to die. Two people are trapped and left to die in a whiskey vat. A terrorist is obliterated with an RPG. Others are blown up by a cannon. A baddie’s head gets struck with gold bricks. A building is mistakenly detonated (with no one inside).

The terrorist leader threatens to kill his hostages and later tries to make good on that threat. We hear the terrorists are connected to a vicious cartel. Other criminals attempt to smuggle a deadly bioweapon.

A woman falls into a bed of rose bushes—some of the thorns stick to her cleavage, which are then painfully torn away.

Crude or Profane Language

The f-word is heard once, and another use of the word is bleeped out during the credits. The s-word is uttered 10 times. Additionally, God’s name is taken in vain nearly 30 times, and paired a few times with “d—.” Jesus’ name is abused once.

There are multiple uses of “d—,” “h—,” “b-tch,” “a–” and “a–hole.” “Whore” and crude slang for male and female anatomy are also heard.

Someone uses a crude hand gesture.

Drug & Alcohol Content

Betsy and most of her bridesmaids drink wine and cocktails during her bachelorette party. Betsy gets drunk. One member of the wedding party says she can’t drink, because she is pregnant. Other people imbibe throughout the film. A woman drinks from a terrorist’s flask.

Ryan’s family earned its fortune (at least in part) as whiskey distillers. Someone talks about “huffing Adderall.”

Other Noteworthy Elements

In a moment of danger, a husband panics and runs away, leaving his pregnant wife behind. The woman shares that when she once faked going into labor, it caused her husband to “poop his pants.” The same person worries about “negative energy” affecting her baby’s development.

We hear that Sam is happiest when she is on a mission, and that she prefers to work alone. A drunk person vomits. Someone mentions irritable bowel syndrome. We briefly see a picture of a cat defecating.

Conclusion

Die Hard in/on/at [insert location or event here]” is about as well-worn a movie pitch as there is. And this Rebel Wilson-led action-comedy evokes that comparison with tongue firmly in cheek. Bride Hard’s violence is more cartoonish than grisly and frequently bloodless. You could even argue it feels surprisingly restrained for an R-rated action flick.

But the setup is little more than an excuse to bombard the audience with raunchy, R-rated humor. Though predictable, it’s disappointing that so much of the “comedy” presented here is predicated upon suggestive dialogue and sexual references—at times, that seems to be the only joke the film knows how to tell. The movie also contains a lot of language (including many misuses of God’s name) and characters abusing alcohol.

So, while Bride Hard has a few positive moments, the downpour of problematic content washes out this “Die Hard at a wedding.” For families, that will probably make for an easy “NO” on the RSVP.


The Plugged In Show logo
Elevate family time with our parent-friendly entertainment reviews! The Plugged In Podcast has in-depth conversations on the latest movies, video games, social media and more.

Bret Eckelberry

Bret loves a good story—be it a movie, show, or video game—and enjoys geeking out about things like plot and story structure. He has a blast reading and writing fiction and has penned several short stories and screenplays. He and his wife love to kayak the many beautiful Colorado lakes with their dog.