Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that Dial a Prayer is a dark, provocative film about a troubled young woman doing community work for a crime by working at a prayer call center. The crimes of vandalism and arson are shown through flashback; it's revealed that an innocent woman was badly hurt. Two women snort cocaine, there's casual smoking and drinking, and a scene of a party shows drunk 20-somethings. Sex is implied. Profanity includes "f--k" and assorted other expletives. Though the film is heavily entrenched in religious beliefs and attitudes, it doesn't align itself directly with belief or atheism. There's some light poking at the chirpy earnestness of the prayer call center workers, but the film mostly tells the story of a woman trying to fix her life in the midst of a small-town religious workplace setting and how the experience changes her. Better for teens or older who can handle the lack of a clear message.

Sexual Content

Implied sex after a man and woman make out against a hotel room wall and are shown in bed the next morning, the woman wearing the man's shirt. A man and woman grope and kiss on a bed; a couple kisses and gropes at a party; a man describes a woman as a "hottie."

Violence

A group of 20-somethings smashes a religious statue with a bat, then a woman lights fire to a church; it's later revealed a woman was badly hurt as a result. A woman hits a pedestrian with car; she is shown flung against the windshield, but no one is hurt.

Language

"Wake the f--k up," "bulls--t," "hell," "s--t," "a--hole," "Jesus," "sacrilegious scum."

Social Behavior

Accepting the consequences of your actions; rebuilding trust; possibility of redemption; forgiveness; doing a job well even when your heart isn't in it.

Consumerism

Not applicable

Drugs / Tobacco / Alcohol

Two women snort cocaine at a party and rub it on their gums; casual drinking at bars, including a woman stumbling home drunk the next morning; people inebriated at a party; casual cigarette smoking throughout.