Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that Rudderless takes place in the aftermath of a terrible tragedy (a college shooting), and the main character is in full retreat from the world. Once a successful executive, he's now living on a small boat, painting houses and drinking most days, trying to assuage the memory of his beloved son. He gets quite drunk on many occasions; some scenes also feature people smoking pot. Expect lots of swearing ("f--k," "s--t," "a--hole," and more) and some emotionally complex and heavy themes -- all of which make Rudderless best for older teens and up.

Sexual Content

A shy young man flirts tentatively with a group of girls. Couples are shown kissing in the background at a party.

Violence

A man tries to kiss his employee while drunk; she rebuffs him, swatting him away. Two men get into a brief scuffle that leaves one with a black eye. The film revolves around an act of senseless violence that's never seen but often discussed.

Language

Frequent swearing includes "f--k," "s--t," "a--hole," "d--k," and "balls."

Social Behavior

Sometimes it's hard to face deeply unpleasant truths, but pretending they don't exist doesn't make it so. Sam spends a good portion of the film hiding from a tragic incident in the recent past; he's only able to move forward with his life when he acknowledges what happened.

Consumerism

Not applicable

Drugs / Tobacco / Alcohol

After a tragedy, the main character retreats from life and becomes a semi-functional alcoholic. He drinks, beer, whine, whisky, and plenty of other things and gets pretty drunk in several scenes. A few sequences also show people smoking pot.