PG-13 (MPA)

A PG-13-rated film, in the United States, is not recommended for children (preteens) under the age of 13. This rating exceeds the PG rating when it comes to rating material. It can have intense violence, brief strong language, partial nudity, and (as the minimum rating) drug use. PG-13 is normally unrestricted. Unlike rated R features, there is no legal enforcement, and placing age restrictions on rated PG-13 features is voluntary by cinemas. The rating was introduced in 1984 to fill the gap between PG and R. The first title to receive a PG-13 rating is The Flamingo Kid. However, it was held off until December, so Red Dawn is the first title that was released with a PG-13 rating. It means: Parents Strongly Cautioned (also known as Parental Guidance 13) - Some Material May Be Inappropriate for Children Under 13.

Since the PG-13 rating is unrestricted, these movies can be targeted to teens and even tweens. Major PG-13 rated blockbuster features can perform particularly well in the box office. The top 10 grossing movies in the domestic box office are all rated PG-13.

Equivalent to: TV Parental Guidelines's TV-14 and ESRB's T (but T-rated video games usually do not permit use of the F-word unless it's censored or partially heard).

Factors[]

Violence[]

Intense and/or strong depictions of violence^[1] may be allowed. Depictions of blood/gore are allowed if lingering detail is minimal, however it may be more than minimal if infrequent. Violence should not be realistic and persistent and/or show realistic gore with sight of mutilation of body parts with realistic reactions. Violence without injury detail is virtually unrestricted.

There may be non-violent gore.

Sexual violence is usually not allowed unless implied or thematic in nature. Sexual assault can include non-consensual touching/groping.

There may be implied or attempted suicide, with sounds or non-graphic visuals of the aftermath.

Sexual content[]

PG-13 rated movies can contain sex scenes if they are brief and/or infrequent, is not graphic or contains sexual noises, and does not include nudity. There may be implied sex, but prolonged sexual noises is not permitted. There may be brief visuals of sexual props. There may be gestures of a sexual nature, depictions of a sexual nature, none of which is too detailed, graphic, or has nudity. Sexual references or humor can be allowed if they aren't too graphic, crude or profane. Nudity is allowed if it does not include frequent prolonged nudity, and is not sexualized. Full frontal nudity is only allowed if similar to classical artwork commonly on display in museums and is not sexualized.

Language[]

Multiple instances of swear words, including PG-level profanity, except the F- and C-words (such as "b*tch," "sh*t," "slut," etc...) may be permitted.

Milder sexual swear words may be used, such as “d*ck” and “p*ssy”.

To avoid an R rating, the F-word must be used only once and not in a sexual manner. More than one use of the F-word or if the word is used in a sexual matter, will result in an R rating. However there have been movies with multiple uses of the F-word and still be rated PG-13 if the raters feels that by context or the manner in which words are used is acceptable for most American parents or inconspicuously used via the two-third majority special vote rule, some without having to appeal down from an R first (e.g., The Martian, The Hip Hop Project, Gunner Palace, the latter was originally an R, Adventures in Babysitting, Thelma, Antworm Fisher, Philomena, which was originally an R, Bully, which was edited to avoid the R rating, etc.). Contrariwise, a single use of the C-word guarantees an R rating unless censored or implied.

Derogatory slurs (such as "f****t" and "n****r/n***a") should not be frequent, if not justified by context.

Crude gestures are permitted.

Drug use[]

Drug use may be allowed if it's implied. Improper use of prescription drugs or infrequent marijuana use may be permitted, briefly by teens, but other underage drug use will lead to at least an R. Effects of drug use aren't usually evident, but if they are drugs should not be glamorized or made to look fun. Smoking and alcohol abuse is allowed but if it includes very frequent underage drinking or smoking it would lead to an R.

Themes[]

No theme is not permitted, it is the depiction of other elements related to the theme that can lead to an R or NC-17 rating.

List[]

List of films
- 5,854 titles as 2025

Trivia[]

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was the first 3D computer-animated film to be rated PG-13.
- In 2025, Ne Zha 2 became the first (computer) animated film with a PG-13 rating in the United States, to gross over 1 and 2 billion dollars worldwide.
The first Disney film to receive an PG-13 rating was Adventures in Babysitting, which was released under the Touchstone label in 1987. The first to be released through the Disney label was Pirates of the Caribbean in 2003.
Until Deadpool & Wolverine, which got rated R, all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe theatrical features had been rated PG-13 (though The Avengers had to be edited down from an R). Oddly enough, the R-rated version of The Avengers, which edited an impalement to receive a PG-13 rating, is available on Blu-ray 3D with the PG-13 rating.
Most films produced by Screen Gems receive either this rating or R.
There have been many (originally) R-rated movies that were later edited to be PG-13 as a result of studio mandates; examples include the horror films Stay Alive (2006), Cursed (2005) and Slender Man (2018), the comedy film Fired Up (2009) and the action films Live Free Or Die Hard (2007) and The Expendables 3 (2014).
Gunner Palace holds the record of being the feature with this rating that has the most F-words.
Some academics, journalists and commentators claim that the supposedly rating creep phenomenon is overtly present in PG-13 content.
Red Dawn (1984) was thought at the time by some organizations as the most violent film ever made.