Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily Entertainment GuideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsCannes Film FestivalStar WarsAsian Pacific American Heritage MonthSummer Watch GuideSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
Back
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Camryn Manheim, Jane Adams, and Dylan Baker in Happiness (1998)

Parents guide

Happiness

Content rating

  • Sex & Nudity:
    Severe
  • Violence & Gore:
    Moderate
  • Profanity:
    Severe
  • Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking:
    Mild
  • Frightening & Intense Scenes:
    Severe

Sex & Nudity

Severe
64 of 92 found this severe
A woman wears a quite tight top without a bra. You can see her nipples poking through her top.
A man calls a woman and asks what she is wearing in a sexual context. He is masturbating whilst he asks her about this.
A man discusses hiring a professional hooker for his son because he thinks he's gay (his son is 11)
A man ejaculates onto his wall, he then sticks a photo to it. Played for laughs.
The film is laced with sexual dialogue about sexual fantasies, masturbation, and more. Some of this dialogue is between a father and son. However, actual sex and nudity is kept brief or just implied.
A brief sex scene occurs between a man and a woman; her breasts are shown, and his buttocks.
Two silhouetted figures are briefly shown preforming sex related acts.
A man describes a sexual fantasy.
Two clothed people heavily kiss on a couch; the man is shown putting his hand into the woman's shirt and groping her breast.
A father and son frankly and openly discuss penis size.

Violence & Gore

Moderate
39 of 55 found this moderate
Two different characters at different points of the movie are given death threats on the phone.
Two characters discuss the night doorman who works in their building - the woman states he was found bludgeoned to death with his penis missing.
A character commits suicide offscreen by suffocation; his corpse is briefly shown.
A man drugs a little boy in order to rape him. Later in the film, we see the man driving to the house of another boy, apparently to rape him. Neither of the rapes is shown.
A woman is raped in her apartment. They are shown in the lead-up and aftermath as clothed. After the rape, she kills him by breaking his neck. The woman tells this scene in flash-back, and a darkly comical edge offsets its potentially disturbing nature.
A woman is pelted with vegetables by a crowd of protesters as she enters a building.
A woman spits on a woman and drags her to the floor by her hair.
A woman is shown with a black eye and bloody lip. It is implied to be from domestic abuse.

Profanity

Severe
39 of 58 found this severe
Very explicit and detailed sexual dialogue, some relating to paedophilia and rape.
20 uses of "fuck"
5 uses of "shit"
1 use of "cunt"

Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking

Mild
33 of 60 found this mild
Billy mentions that his teacher is a drug addict/junkie.
A few characters drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes in some scenes.
A man drugs his son's friends in order to rape them.

Frightening & Intense Scenes

Severe
49 of 61 found this severe
There is a theme of pedophelia throughout, although no scenes of molestation are shown.
Several of the characters in the film have social dysfunctions, which leads them to behavior that most people would find disturbing, for example making obscene phone calls, murder, and suicide. Most of the suspense in the film lies in its complete emotional bleakness.

Certifications

Edit
  • Argentina
    • 18
  • Australia
    • R
    • Mre-rating
  • Brazil
    • 18
  • Canada
    • RAlberta, Ontario
    • 18ABritish Columbia
    • 18Nova Scotia
    • 16+Québec
    • 14+TV rating
  • Finland
    • K-16
  • France
    • 12
  • Germany
    • 16
    • 12re-rating
  • Hong Kong
    • III
    • IIAre-rating
  • Iceland
    • 16
  • India
    • Not Rated
  • Ireland
    • 18
  • Italy
    • VM18
    • VM14cut
  • Mexico
    • C
  • Netherlands
    • 12
  • New Zealand
    • R18
    • Mre-rating
  • Norway
    • 15cinema rating
  • Portugal
    • M/18
    • M/12re-rating
  • Russia
    • 18+
  • Singapore
    • R21
    • PG13re-rating
  • Sweden
    • 15
  • Switzerland
    • 16canton of Geneva
    • 16canton of Vaud
  • United Kingdom
    • 18
  • United States
    • Unrated
    • TV-MALSV
    • NC-17original rating
  • United Arab Emirates
    • Not Rated

More from this title

More to explore

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb app
Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
Follow IMDb on social
Get the IMDb app
For Android and iOS
Get the IMDb app
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • License IMDb Data
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.