Is “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” OK for Kids? What Parents Should Know About the PG-13 Tim Burton Sequel

The ‘Beetlejuice’ sequel is rated PG-13 for, among other things, “macabre and bloody images”

Everyone’s favorite bio-exorcist demon has risen from his grave in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

In theaters Friday, Sept. 6, director Tim Burton’s long-awaited follow-up to his 1988 comedy-horror classic brings back original cast members Michael Keaton as the ghoulish Betelgeuse, Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz, Catherine O’Hara as Delia Deetz and more. The sequel also costars franchise newcomers Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Danny DeVito and Willem Dafoe.

Given the original’s mix of inventive horror and silly comedy, audiences may be wondering: is Beetlejuice Beetlejuice appropriate viewing, for kids or the faint of heart? Like its predecessor, the movie is rated PG-13 — for “violent content, macabre and bloody images, strong language, some suggestive material and brief drug use.” Read on for what to know before bringing children under age 13. (Warning: The following contains spoilers for the film.)

Related: The Cast of Beetlejuice: Where Are They Now?

Playful body horror abounds

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice earns the “violent content” part of its PG-13 rating with a range of violence, from cartoonish to shocking. Some acts or images that would in other circumstances prove quite alarming are in Burton’s hands instead comical.

Early in the film, for example, Charles Deetz (played by Jeffrey Jones in the original) dies in a shark attack. But the story of his death is narrated over a stop-motion-animated sequence, rather than anything resembling reality. Objects like guns or knives appear, but are used to hint at the idea of violence instead of enact it.

As in the original, much of the movie’s “macabre and bloody images” comes from Burton’s inventive depiction of the afterlife, a shadowy underworld of bureaucracy populated by deceased people who bear signs of how they died. Characters are rendered sliced in half or with innards exposed, sickly-colored or blue from asphyxiation or other ailments, with heads shrunken or simply skeletal.

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Charles’ fate encapsulates the horrific-yet-comedic aesthetic: in the afterlife, his body has its shoulders and head bitten away by the shark. Viewers may find it grotesque to see the blood spurting from his giant wound as he gurgles words, but the effect inspires more laughs — and awe at the impressive effect — than chills. 

Another early scene has a distinct take on body horror, and those with aichmophobia (fear of sharp objects) and specifically staplophobia (fear of staplers) should avert their eyes or avoid Beetlejuice Beetlejuice entirely. Bellucci plays Delores, Betelgeuse's ex-wife who resurrects herself by sticking together her separated body parts using a stapler. She also provides the film's jump scares, including when she sucks out others' souls.

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A demonic mini-Beetlejuice baby is nightmare fuel

The most disturbing Beetlejuice Beetlejuice element for kids — and parents — may be how it includes the trope of pregnancy in horror movies. When Ryder’s character Lydia comes face-to-face with Keaton’s Betelgeuse again, he pulls off various pranks and visual gags that can prove stomach-churning. (Those uncomfortable with slimes or bodily fluids will not find this movie fun.)

At one point, Betelgeuse points at Lydia’s stomach, which expands rapidly. His demon baby, birthed wetly and explosively, begins crawling about, terrorizing and even biting characters. Its doll-like face, reminiscent of Chucky, is all the more frightening for the suddenness of its arrival, both in this scene and in the movie’s dream-like epilogue.

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A movie about death is a movie about loss

Unsurprisingly, a movie that features both the living and the dead grapples with the very real phenomenon of the former becoming the latter. Ortega’s character Astrid, daughter to Ryder’s Lydia, mourns the losses of both her father and grandfather. Often at odds with her mother, Astrid’s arc is a reminder that everyone’s grieving process is different, difficult and complicated.

In fact, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice reinforces the notion introduced in the first film that characters can even lose already-dead characters. Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis don’t return as the ghostly Adam and Barbara Maitland because, as Lydia explains sadly, they found a loophole that enabled them to move on permanently.

There is a brief depiction of drug use

The movie’s “brief drug use” pinpointed by the MPAA occurs in an early scene in which Lydia takes an unspecified pill to manage stress about her work — and ability to see ghosts. Theroux’s character Rory, her boyfriend and TV producer, goes from discouraging her from taking the drugs to acquiescing and taking a pill himself.

The title character provides plenty of suggestive language

In 1988’s Beetlejuice, Keaton’s performance in the titular role was brief but memorable, featuring rapid-fire lewdness and gags. The sequel continues that trend, with the demonic character making jokes some parents will consider inappropriate for teens and especially kids under 13.

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The scene in which Betelgeuse implies Lydia is pregnant with his baby, and perhaps even makes her so with his disturbing form of magic, is indicative of his carnal desires. In word and action, the character remains quite lascivious, lusting after Lydia, Delia and more. However, much of Keaton’s dialogue comes at such a fast clip, his ungentlemanly implications may go over young audience members’ heads.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is in theaters Sept. 6.

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