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
MediumAdults

Credits

In Theaters

Cast

Home Release Date

Director

Distributor

Reviewer

Emily Tsiao

Movie Review

In life, Christina Eames wasn’t good at telling the ones she loved just how much she loved them. Instead, she just took pictures. She figured that by pouring herself into her work as a photographer and by being a good provider, she could convey her love in that way.

Unfortunately, her daughter didn’t feel the same. Mae felt jaded by her mother’s lack of attention. So when Mae receives a posthumous letter from her mother explaining why Christina acted the way she did, Mae understandably has a difficult time reading it all the way through.

This task is made even more difficult by the entrance of reporter Michael Block into Mae’s life. Michael was working on an article in Louisiana when he came across a picture of Christina in the house of his subject, Isaac. It turns out Isaac wanted to marry Christina before she left him to become a photographer in New York.

Mae grows closer to Michael, and as she does, she discovers she’s more like her mom than she thought. But if she wants to avoid making the same mistakes with Michael that Christina did with Isaac, Mae will have to find a way to finish reading her mother’s letter.

Positive Elements

Although Christina struggled to tell Mae and Isaac how she felt about them, they both understand from her letters that she did love them. Christina’s posthumous letters also ask them to forgive her for not expressing her love better when she was still alive.

Mae chooses not to follow in her mom’s footsteps by being completely honest with Michael about her feelings instead of waiting years and years until it’s too late to tell him.

Spiritual Elements

When Mae puts her head down, Michael says she looks like she is praying and asks what she is praying for. Someone makes a reference to Europa from Greek mythology.

Sexual Content

Michael and Mae have sex. (Nothing critical is seen, but there are several close-up shots of their bare skin.) Their silhouettes are also seen when they get out of bed later. Christina removes her clothes (only her back is seen) and it is implied that she and Isaac have sex. They wake up in bed together the next day only covered by bedsheets.

A couple lays next to each other on a dock, holding hands and kissing. Couples kiss, hug, dance, cuddle and hold hands. Women wear cleavage-baring tops and dresses. A woman wears an off-shoulder shirt and short shorts.

People joke about sex (once in the presence of children). Someone makes a joke with sexual connotations about needing to know a man’s age for legal purposes. Michael says dating a married woman isn’t as bad as cheating.

A painting of a nude woman (only her back is seen) hangs in Mae’s apartment.

[Spoiler Warning] Mae discovers that Isaac is her biological father—a fact that neither of them knew until after Christina’s death.

Violent Content

Two people are nearly hit by a car.

Crude or Profane Language

The f-word is used once. We also hear one use each of “d–n,” “a–” and “h—.” The Lord’s name is misused three times.

Drug and Alcohol Content

People drink wine, beer and liquor throughout the movie. A woman says a man has had too much to drink. A little girl jokingly asks her mom for wine. Mae says her mother didn’t notice when Mae started smoking marijuana.

Other Negative Elements

Christina’s death comes as a shock to her family, since she never told anyone that she had cancer and was dying. We also learn that Christina’s mother asked her to move out of their house so that Christina wouldn’t have to witness her dying.

Christina argues with her mom about dating Isaac because her mom says she doesn’t approve of Isaac. The reason? She doesn’t believe Michael will make enough money to provide for Christina. Michael and Mae argue after she learns he lied about his ex-girlfriend. They also argue about long-distance dating, since Mae doesn’t think it will work.

Someone jokes about divorce. Christina is scolded by her mother for slamming a door. A character makes a snide remark about Christina’s photography skills. During a hurricane, several people avoid leaving an evacuation zone until after the power goes out.

Conclusion

When it comes to meet-cutes in romantic movies, usually we’re treated to a hero saving the damsel in distress or awkward-yet-somehow-charming babbling between the two leads. But in The Photograph, Mae and Michael bond over a photograph of Mae’s recently deceased mother.

Even Michael’s brother, Kyle, finds this strange—and he makes sure Michael knows it. But this movie is about more than awkward first encounters. Despite the obvious romance that’s brewing between Mae and Michael, the deeper story here is about the mending of a broken relationship between a mother and daughter.

Christina admits that she wished she had been better at love and at being a mother. But as she prepares for death, she finds herself capable of writing a letter to “My Mae” that conveys everything she could never explain to her daughter in life.

But before all this healing takes place, Mae, much like her mother before her, treats relationships very casually—and she and Michael do have sex. Not that they’re the only guilty parties. Pretty much everyone in this movie has a lackadaisical attitude towards sex—a reality the movie seems to accept and depict without offering much critique of it. Characters are also rarely seen without drinks in hand, and viewers will encounter some brief-but-harsh language, too.

Those PG-13 content concerns ultimately temper the sweet-but-substantive reconciliation at the heart of this story.

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.
Emily Tsiao

Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.