Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that Lucy is a sci-fi/action movie starring Scarlett Johansson. The violence gets fairly graphic, with lots of shoot outs and blood splattering everywhere. The main female character is manhandled, punched, and kicked, and she also kills some bad guys without consequence. The plot concerns fictitious drugs and using drug mules to smuggle them, which requires some bloody operations to get them in and out of people's bellies. There are some quick documentary-like flashback scenes of sex between animals as well as between humans, and the main character sometimes wears sexy, objectifying outfits. Language isn't frequent but does contain at least two uses of "s--t." Characters sometimes drink alcohol. It's all pretty intense, but the movie is so slick and thoughtful that teens may come away thinking about the ideas more than the iffy content.
Sexual
Content
A documentary-type flashback shows animals having sex, followed by a woman having sex with a man in a car; nothing sensitive is shown, but what they're doing is clear enough. This is followed by images of birth, both animals and humans. The main character is sometimes sexualized through her outfits. In two instances, male characters place their hands down the front of her top. In one scene, Lucy, while fully clothed, spreads her legs apart to seduce a guard, though she quickly defeats him. Lucy kisses a helpful cop.
Violence
Strong fantasy violence, with lots of blood. Many characters are shot and killed, with blood splattering all over. Characters' hands and faces are covered in blood. Characters are used as drug mules, and the drugs are sewn up inside their intestines, requiring several bloody surgeries throughout the movie. Many chases and shoot outs with random death and destruction throughout. The main female character is grabbed, manhandled, punched, and kicked in several early scenes. She shoots and kills several bad guys without consequence. A character is stabbed in the hands with knives.
Language
"S--t" is used twice. "Ass," "a--hole," and "hell" are also heard.
Social
Behavior
Through its sci-fi concept (and in between fights, shoot outs, and chases), the movie makes several interesting, thoughtful pronouncements: that humans are currently more concerned with having than with being, that nothing ever truly dies, that ignorance creates chaos but knowledge does not, and that we as humans have the capability to change things.
Consumerism
A bottle of Evian water is used to clean a character's bloody hands. A Peugeot is driven during a car chase. Samsung products appear a few times.
Drugs / Tobacco /
Alcohol
Fictitious drugs and drug smuggling are a major part of the plot. A crazed junkie snorts the new drug. Viewers see a brief flashback of a character drinking a shot in a bar. She drinks a shot of whisky with the bad guy while preparing to become a drug mule. And she drinks a sip of champagne on an airplane. The bad guy smokes a cigarette.