Parents' Guide to

The Red Turtle

Movie PG 2017 80 minutes
The Red Turtle Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

Sandie Angulo Chen By Sandie Angulo Chen , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 8+

Beautiful word-free drama about castaway who finds love.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 8+?

Any Positive Content?

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  • The Red Turtle Movie: Scene #1
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  • The Red Turtle Movie: Scene #3

Parent and Kid Reviews

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age 9+

Based on 8 parent reviews

Janice K.
Janice K. Parent of 8-year-old
March 15, 2024
age 10+

It’s ok but not for young children.

There is a lot of sadness in this movie, I wouldn’t recommend this for a sensitive child. There is also a scene where the woman is covered in blood cause she’s hurt from a big wave coming and crashing the whole island down. There is also a lot of dead animals, fish, crabs, a turtle, also the man violently kills the turtle. I personally wouldn’t let my child watch this until he’s 10-12 years old.
Jlyndvorak
Jlyndvorak Parent of 8 and 10-year-old
March 2, 2019
age 7+

Poetic, lovely film

First of all, this film may not be for every parent... my hubby “didn’t get it”. But my kids really liked it (boys, ages 7 and 9), and have the taste for your typical Pixar action/cartoon blockbuster. Which is exactly why I picked this movie and watched it with them. It’s a slow, poetic and completely dialogue-free story of a man living on a deserted island, and the imaginative gift he receives from the sea (a woman, emerged from a sea turtle that he has killed). We paused the movie often to talk about what the man and the woman (and eventually their child) might be communicating in the subtle body language, eyes, and other imagery in the movie. It was a bit intense at times (a tsunami, the raft being destroyed by an unknown animal under the sea), but it was so rich with subtle story-telling, and I felt it gave me an opportunity to talk about feelings and overcoming struggles and fears. My boys soaked it up. If you’re planning to chat-it-up with the adults in the kitchen while your kids are locked in the play room with the DVR, skip this movie. If you’re feeling engaged and receptive, and the kids are up for trying something new, I think most families would love this movie.
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What's the Story?

THE RED TURTLE is a wordless animated drama that follows an unnamed castaway who washes ashore on a tropical island. He finds fruit, water, and bamboo and attempts to build a raft to escape. But he's foiled by an unseen beast that destroys the raft. Twice more he builds rafts and tries to escape, finally discovering that his nemesis is a giant red turtle. When the man sees the red turtle on his island, in a burst of rage, he hits it with a bamboo stick and pushes it onto its back. Guiltily, he realizes the turtle has died. But the next night, the turtle's shell cracks, and, magically, it transforms into a beautiful woman. The man and the turtle woman instantly connect. She sets her empty shell out to sea, and he gives up trying to leave the island. Years later, they have the son who grows up happy but feels a pull to explore the sea beyond their island home.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (8 ):
Kids say (5 ):

Gorgeously animated, this wordless story about a stranded castaway pays tribute to what's most important in life: companionship, love, family, and the stewardship of nature. The man on the island starts off like Tom Hanks in Cast Away, desperate to get off the island. But unlike other stories about shipwrecked heroes, this main character loses his compulsion to escape once a companion magically appears. At that point, the island, like the turtle, transforms from something frightening and even predatory into something beautiful and welcoming -- a home instead of a prison.

It's clear why director Michael Dudok de Wit managed to impress Studio Ghibli into producing his debut feature. Yes, it's wordless (although there are plenty of little groans, grunts, and sounds), but it's still incredibly expressive. The animation is stunning: The evocative expressions on the three characters' faces, the vivid seascape, and the tiny gestures the humans make toward one another and the sea creatures that share their island home are all lovely. The final third of The Red Turtle will resonate especially well with parents, as they witness the inevitable way the son wants to launch out on his own. Some viewers may fixate on the magical realist way the turtle the man killed became the woman he loved for the rest of his life, but it's actually a fitting tribute to how love can grow out of even the bleakest of circumstances.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the peril/violence in The Red Turtle, particularly between the turtle and the man and nature and the man. Why do you think the man felt justified in hurting the turtle? How did he make up for it? How much scary stuff can young kids handle?

  • Does the fact the movie doesn't have any talking make you pay closer attention to the visuals and the score? Who do you think the movie's intended audience is?

  • How does the story promote empathy? Why is that an important character strength?

  • What do you think the filmmaker is trying to say about the human need for companionship and the relationship between humans and nature?

Movie Details

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