Parents Guide for
Nowhere (1997) More at IMDbPro »

Note: The number at the beginning of each section refers to how much explicit content of that kind there is in the film on a scale of 1-10. The fraction at the end of the last section is the total sum of the sections over the highest sum possible (50) and is therefore an approximation of about how explicit the film is a whole.

Sex & Nudity: 10/10

The film "Nowhere" is filled with bizarre sexual content, a lot of which is presented in a surreal atmosphere.

The main characters have an open relationship, and both of them are presumably bisexual.

The movie opens up with a teenage boy masturbating in the shower intensely (this is obviously not graphic, although his rear end is shown).

A teenage girl is raped by an older man. It may not seem like he's only attacking her at first, but he's really raping her.

A young man has a possible fetish for having his nipples twisted/mutilated. In one bizarre scene, two girls sensually tear out his nipple rings to his enjoyment.

A man has his girlfriend tie him up and spank his rear end continuously. The man gets an orgasm out of this.

In a rather intense sequence, there are back-to-back flashes of two different couples having sexual intercourse.

In different scenes of the film, the same sexually-interactive couple is seen making out or even having sex. At one point, they are in a car, where the boy puts a piece of chocolate in the girl's vagina (this is implied and not graphic or even seen). The girl seemingly gets an orgasm out of this, and the boy proceeds to perform oral on her (he puts his head down onto her lap, and it cuts to another scene right after he says "I just love the milk chocolatey goodness" and the girl moans in a sexual way).

A teenager watches a video that he took of his girlfriend; in the video, he asks her to take her shirt off. She lifts it up, and the video stops right before her breasts show.

A character has three sexual fantasies at once: in one, he is having sex with his girlfriend. In another, he is being tied to a chair and whipped by two apparent lesbians with european accents. In the third one, he is having a romantic moment with a boy while they both change in a locker room. They are about to kiss, but the it cuts before they do.

The film contains various scenes of strong sexuality, almost all of it between teenagers.

Violence & Gore: 7/10

A character is shown to have committed suicide; she is shown collapsed off the side of her bed (legs sticking straight up), and blood is splattered all over her bedroom.

A character is shown to have committed suicide by sticking his head into a heated oven. The scene where he is shown like this is somewhat disturbing.

A teenage girl is beaten and raped by an older man . Her face is bruised and she has a nose bleed as a result.

Towards the end of the movie, a tough character violently attacks a young man, tackling him, kicking him in the head, beating his head against a kitchen counter, and finishing him off by bludgeoning him to death with a can of soup. This sequence is long and comicly brutal, as well as being bloody by the end of it.

A young man explodes quickly, and blood splatters everywhere.

Profanity: 8/10

Nihilistic and crude language throughout, used to a liberal extent by all characters. Both major and minor curse words are used.

Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: 8/10

Many drug references, including references to speed and crystal meth.

Underage characters smoke cigarettes, take ecstasy, and drink alcohol.

Most of the characters in "Nowhere" are seen doing drugs at some point.

Frightening/Intense Scenes: 6/10

In an intense and somewhat distressing sequence, a character has a coughing attack and explodes.

There is a weird and random appearance by a scary clown/zombie man holding a dead dog.

The violent beating scene is intense.

An idea of how accurate the TECE (below) is: 5-10 is little-kid suitable, G-Rated type of film (i.e. Care Bears, Sleeping Beauty); 10-15 is going to be a little harsher, but not by much (i.e. The Incredibles); 15-20 could be pretty high up there (i.e. Indiana Jones), 20-25 can be less kid-suitable(i.e. The Dark Knight); 25-30 is going to be a film most likely not suitable for children; 30-40 is going to be a film meant for adults and NOT for children (i.e. Saving Private Ryan), and films that go over 40 are high in explicit content and only for mature audiences.

Total Explicit Content Estimation: 39/50-- Not for children, nor for the squeamish.