An NC-17 rated film is one that, in the view of the Rating Board, most parents would consider patently too adult for children under the age of 18. It is against the theater policy (and potentially against local laws) to admit minors to NC-17 rated films. NC-17 does not mean "obscene" or "pornographic" in the common or legal meaning of those words, and should not be construed as a negative judgment in any sense. This rating just simply signals that the content is appropriate only for an adult audience (ages 18 and above). The majority of films rated NC-17 receive this rating due to their explicit sexual content. NC-17 rated films almost never get a wide release in the United States and are often tied with commercial failure due to the refusal to be stocked by major retailers or have advertisements shown on television. It means: Adults Only - No One 17 and Under Admitted (originally No Children Under 17 Admitted, later revised to No One 17 and Under Admitted). This sets the NC-17 rating apart from other restricted adult ratings such as the BBFC's 18 or manga's M (though not legally restricted), which are widely used; for this reason, most films that receive roughly equivalent ratings from other systems are rated R. It is the rarest movie rating.
Equivalent to: ESRB's AO rating. No equivalent TV Parental Guidelines rating exists.
The age bar prior to 1996 was 17. It was previously known as X-rated until 1990.
Contrary to popular belief, the NC-17 rating is not used for adult/pornographic films/series, and most films/series of this nature are not submitted for ratings in the US.
NC-17 is age-restricted content on most streaming platforms and may be filtered from search results. If one attempts to stream NC-17 rated content but confirms to be under 18 years old, they will not be able to stream it.
Factors[]
Violence[]
NC-17 rated movies can contain extremely graphic or abhorrent violence, or graphic sexual violence.
Sexual content[]
There may be unsimulated sex scenes, orgy scenes, or very graphic sex scenes that are borderline pornographic. Nudity is unrestricted.
Language[]
Language is virtually unrestricted.
Drug use[]
Graphic drug use is virtually unrestricted, but the preparation of drugs must not be detailed.
Themes[]
Themes are generally unrestricted.
Examples[]
Only 90 total titles have received an NC-17 rating as of 2024, making it the most uncommon rating used in the MPA system. X-rated titles are not included on this list unless they were rated NC-17 later on.
- Showgirls for nudity and erotic sexuality throughout, and for some graphic language and sexual violence. To date, it is the only NC-17 film to be given a wide theatrical release. An edited R-rated version was released on VHS, primarily for chains that refused to carry NC-17 rated films such as Blockbuster.
- Lust, Caution for some explicit sexuality.
- A Serbian Film for extreme aberrant sexual and violent content including explicit dialogue.
- A Dirty Shame for pervasive sexual content.
- Shame (2011) because the primary theme of the film is addiction to sex.
- Pedro Almodóvar's La mala educación/Bad Education (2004) is rated NC-17 due to a scene of homosexual sex. The same cut is rated MA 15+ in Australia and 15 in the UK.
- Henry & June (1990) - this was the first film to be rated NC-17 as opposed to X (despite being rated M in Australia).
- The Evil Dead (1981)
- The Canterbury Tales (1972) - despite being rated 15 in the UK.
- Saw series (2004 onwards) - all films in the series except for Jigsaw and Saw X were originally rated NC-17 in their uncut forms. All of them were cut for an R, except Saw II, which was re-rated R on appeal.
- Blonde (2022), a Netflix biopic on the life of Marilyn Monroe, received an NC-17 rating for sexual content. It is the first Netflix original film to receive that rating.
Gallery[]
| Motion Picture Association film rating system |
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     Formerly used ratings: M | GP | X |