Summary

This article contains discussion of suicide

As one of the breakout movies of 2023, Anatomy of a Fall has attracted popular international attention, yet its appeal is arguably limited by its R-rating. A legal thriller centered around the excavation of complex interpersonal relationships, most of the movie's action takes place in the typically reserved atmosphere of a courtroom. Nevertheless, throughout its 150-minute runtime, Anatomy of a Fall does more than enough to earn its R-rating a categorization that actually enhances rather than diminishes the onscreen drama.

Starring an Oscar-nominated Sandra Hller in the lead role, Anatomy of a Fall is ostensibly a murder mystery that is much more interested in the moral ambiguity around the justice system than in providing a concrete answer to the case. Hller plays Sandra Voyter, a writer whose world is turned upside down when her husband's body is found outside their isolated French cabin. Sandra soon faces an uphill struggle to prove her innocence both to the court and to her young son, Daniel. While it may have been possible to tell this story without an R-rating, Anatomy of a Fall is uncompromising in its portrayal of the action.

Anatomy of a Fall's official MPAA R-rating has been assigned for some language, sexual references, and violent images. While these warnings in isolation would be enough to warrant more restricted viewing, their application within the movie makes them even more "R-rated" than they would be in other contexts. For example, the movie shows Sebastian's body falling out of the window on several occasions, as well as its violent impact. There is also a scene where police attempt to reenact the fall with upsetting realism, further proving the film's unsuitability for younger viewers.

Beyond the violence, which also includes several bloody close-ups of Sebastian's body, Anatomy of a Fall also uses harsh language to indicate the stress felt by certain characters notably in the kitchen argument sequence. There's also the fact that the movie is deliberately adult in its intent. Despite starring 15-year-old Milo Machado-Graner as Daniel, Anatomy of a Fall revolves around weighty themes like loss, violence, and depression with the adult relationship between Sandra and Sebastian a primary concern. As such, the movie's R-rating is more than justified.

While an R-rating can sometimes limit a film's appeal, in Anatomy of a Fall's case, it is absolutely necessary for success. The key to the movie's power is the contrast between closeted, toxic resentment, built over years of complex adult relationships, and explosions of passionate violence. It's in the juxtaposition between genuinely upsetting scenes, such as Sebastian's death reenactment, and quieter moments of tension that the drama really comes to life.

If the film was limited in the language it could use or the violence it could portray, the ultimate message of the story would become lost

Without an R-rating, Anatomy of a Fall's most important moments would lose their potency. If the film was limited in the language it could use or the violence it could portray, the ultimate message of the story would become lost marring what is one of the 2023's most provocative, complex, and affecting movies. It might put some viewers off, but Anatomy of a Fall's R-rating is essential.

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Why Anatomy Of A Fall Is Rated R - Screen Rant