Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this adaptation of the classic Thackeray story Vanity Fair has a small amount of battlefield violence, including a field lined with dead bodies. The English class system is paramount to the plot of the story, and characters make bigoted remarks both about the "lower classes" and about people of color. Some characters are killed in battle, while others die suddenly; a child is left orphaned by the death of both of her parents. Expect adultery plus many veiled references to sex, couched in so much old-fashioned language that kids are unlikely to get them. Viewers see a woman's backside in a non-sexual situation. There is some social drinking at parties, and some characters act slightly drunk.
Sexual
Content
There are plenty of references to sex, but most of them are so veiled they'll go right over kid's heads. We see a character's nude backside as she stands up quickly from a bath. Adultery is a theme.
Violence
Some characters are killed and others die, both offscreen. There is a scuffle and one character falls downstairs, but gets up, seemingly uninjured. A man attempts to force himself on a woman sexually. There are a few scenes set on a battlefield and the viewer sees a field covered with dead bodies.
Language
No cursing, a reference to brothels, and arcane insults like "he has the charm of an undertaker and the humor of a corpse." There is also a racial insult directed at a woman of color.
Social
Behavior
British class issues lie at the heart of this story, and its characters seldom question the class system or if those who benefit from it are worthy. Husbands and wives are often unfaithful to each other in this film, though viewers also see the consequences of the adultery.
Consumerism
Not applicable
Drugs / Tobacco /
Alcohol
At a party guests drink glasses of wine and some characters occasionally act slightly drunk.
