When we talk about kids’ and teens’ movies for the Plugged In Movie Awards, we naturally pay very close attention to a film’s problematic content. We’re not going to nominate a movie in the kids’ category—no matter how well-crafted it is or how many resonant messages it contains—if it has, say, enough profanity in it to make Quentin Tarantino blush.
But when it comes to movies for adults, we allow a little more leeway. And that regularly makes this category—Best Movies for Adults—our most diverse.
You don’t need to have problematic content for a movie to land here. Indeed, one of our nominees today—The Wild Robot—a lot of folks probably expected to land in the kids’ category. We decided to put it in here because, with its strong messages about motherhood, it felt like it would resonate more with parents than with kids.
But you’ll also find a challenging R-rated movie, a gritty sci-fi epic, a wartime drama and a sentimental journey through time. The content to navigate can be challenging in these, so be sure to check out our reviews before deciding to dive in. But if you do, we believe these films contain some strong takeaways that might be worth your while.
As you probably know by now, we’ll be selecting our winner from these nominees during The Plugged In Show, which you can listen to on Feb. 27. And we’d love for you to register your own opinions, too. Vote on any of these nominees—or write in your own—on Facebook, Instagram or on this very blog. We’ll close the polls Feb. 25, and we’ll announce your winners (and recap our own) on Feb. 28, right here.
On to the nominations. (Summaries are written by Paul Asay, Adam Holz and Bob Hoose)
World War II is in full swing, and the Nazis are pelting British cities with bombs. Many worried parents are shipping their children off to the relatively safe countryside—but for kids who feel safer with their parents than anywhere else, that’s a tough ask. For George, a young lad being raised by a single mom, Rita, it’s too much to ask: He jumps off the train and begins a dangerous quest home. Blitz didn’t garner any love from the Oscars, but perhaps it should’ve. Directed by Steve McQueen and starring Saoirse Ronan and a young Elliott Heffernan, this Apple TV+ film gives us a touching mother-and-son story filled with power and poignancy, and it comes with a few very small nods to the importance of faith. While it can be violent and profane, the movie’s resonant storyline makes it worthy of consideration.
The second installment in director Denis Villeneuve’s take on Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic might be the first to do cinematic justice to Herbert’s expansive narrative vision. Dune: Part Two continues to unpack the sprawling tale of Paul Atreides, a young noble who finds himself becoming—almost against his will—a messiah-like leader to the desert people of the planet Arrakis. Their mortal enemy is a family known as the Harkonnens. This second film moves inexorably toward the final conflict between House Atreides and House Harkonnen, with political, religious and sexual intrigue mixed in along the way. Those elements, especially the combat violence we see, earn this film’s PG-13 rating. But for mature fans of the book and devotees of sci-fi spectacles in general, Dune: Part Two unleashes a visually spectacular take on Herbert’s story—and one that just might prompt a great discussion about the paradox of fate and free will afterward.
Ask artist Tarrell about his childhood, and he’s liable to paint you a picture—literally. But it won’t be a pretty one. His boyhood was filled with blood and brokenness and a domineering father who, once Tarrell was grown, Tarrell shut out of his life. Until now. At the bidding and begging of his mother, Tarrell talks with his father, La’Ron, for the first time in 15 years. His mother says that La’Ron has changed. La’Ron believes he has, too. But has he? With its difficult themes and a battery of harsh profanities, Exhibiting Forgiveness is hardly a film for the whole family. Many adults may want to pass this one by. But the film examines what it means to truly forgive someone—and the cost that that can come with whatever decision is made.
Someone once said that life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. The film Here takes that sentiment and tweaks it just a bit. Director Robert Zemeckis creates an imaginative play, of sorts, that addresses the passage of time, life and family. It’s all presented through a single, fixed-frame view of one particular space as time passes through it over millennia. We see several couples and families occupy that space, sometimes dealing with hardships and struggles, sometimes embracing loving moments and laughing joys. The film points to the fact that those loving interactions (even the smallest ones) can uplift and change lives. That parade of familial ups and downs also ushers in some problems: heavy drinking and smoking; some references to affairs and sexuality, both visual and verbal; and some pretty coarse language. If you can make it through those rougher bits, though, you’ll find some excellent performances here (Robin Wright is a standout), and an emotional declaration that our worries about the regrets and the grinds of life are meaningless. The film tells us it’s the small moments of family, love and grace that make our passage worthwhile.
When the transport holding a shipment of Universal Dynamics ROZZUN 7134 robots crashes down on a small deserted island, only a single robot is left intact. And that robot—Roz, we’ll call her—is left quite flummoxed, for there’s not a human anywhere in need of her assistance. In fact, the wildlife residents of the area have absolutely no need for a ROZZUN 7134 at all. But when Roz discovers a newly hatched, clueless gosling, she discovers a new purpose—one that requires her to become a mother, actually. Director Chris Sanders has tackled the subject of family plenty in his previous animated movies, including How to Train Your Dragon and The Croods. But The Wild Robot may be Sanders’ best film yet. The art is lush, gorgeous and, at times, breathtaking. And the narrative wraps all of its artistic and technical excellence around a warm, beating core. The Wild Robot is a good story—one that just might leave you smiling as you blink away a tear or two.
