Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that Magic Beyond Words: The J.K. Rowling Story chronicles Rowling's journey as writer, first as a precocious teen developing her voice and later as a single mother struggling to find time to write. In scenes of her teenage years, there's a fight with a bully, some casual smoking and drinking, and then later, as an adult, a scene of domestic abuse with her first husband in front of her infant daughter. She also experiences her mother's diagnosis of MS and death. However, the focus is on the genesis of the Harry Potter series and Rowling's frustrations as a developing writer. Fans of the series will find satisfying chronology here and an inspirational tale of "making it," but aspiring writers may be disappointed by the lack of insight into Rowling's craft.

Sexual Content

A man and woman kiss a few times, go on a date. A woman sees a man kissing another woman. Some light flirting.

Violence

Teen girl slapped in the face, pushed, and punched in the stomach. A woman falls in the bathroom, is later diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She later dies; her funeral is shown. A man and woman argue; he pushes her, pulls her by the hair, throws her out, all while shouting abusive things in front of their infant child.

Language

"Hell."

Social Behavior

Follow your dreams; perseverance pays off.

Consumerism

Not applicable

Drugs / Tobacco / Alcohol

Teenage smoking and drinking, without consequence. Adults drink at a bar in a few scenes. A man is drunk and abusive.