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Parental Guide

While IMDb also includes MPA and Certification ratings from around the world, this feature gives parents and movie viewers additional information about the title that cannot be fully conveyed by certificate, since the beliefs that parents want to instill in their children can vary greatly. Please only describe the facts of relevant scenes which maybe be helpful to parents when determining the appropriateness of the title.

As with all other data types the parental guides will be checked by the Database Content Team before they go live.

  • All guides should be in English.
  • For TV Series, only provide series or season details. Episode specific items should be added to the episode.
  • Any data containing spoilers should be submitted with the spoiler checkbox marked.
  • If you include character names in your scene descriptions, please list the actor or actress name in parentheses. Example: Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp).
  • To include links to name or titles on IMDb please follow this format, [link=nm1234567] or [link=tt1234567]
  • Do not add content that fits within other sections of IMDb i.e. Trivia or Cast.
  • Do not provide any personal information (email address, phone number, ID, etc.)
  • Do not add manual ratings (e.g. 1/10, 10/10, 7/10) to reflect the level of the content assigned to a subsection in parents guide; you can now vote marking the severity of the category. To vote on the severity of category you will either see a box stating None, Mild, Moderate or Severe if there have been votes already. Alternatively there will a link saying “Be the first to evaluate this category”. If you select either option you will then have the ability to vote whether you think the amount of Sex & Nudity (for example) is None, Mild, Moderate or Severe. As the content can be subjective, the voting system now allows parents to judge how severe multiple people judge the category to be.
  • Please add one item per submission. Multiple statements should be made in separate entries.
  • Profanity should only be submitted to the Profanity section; to use explicit terms in other sections is not allowed please use phrasing such as ‘oral sex’ rather than colloquial terms. Do not add the specific amount of times a profanity is used, if something is used excessively please state this rather than the number of times.
  • We understand not everyone will agree on what should be included in a parental guide. What constitutes a valid piece of information is at the discretion of our editors. Where possible we want to keep as much valid information as possible to allow people to make an informed decision. If the data is factually incorrect (i.e. no one dies in the manner described) then please report the item, choosing the most correct category. Do not report an item if you simply don't agree it should be included.
  • Modifications should be used to correct spelling, grammar, formatting etc. not to change the context or meaning behind the item.
  • If there is vandalism or sabotage, please fix the information where possible. If you notice constant issues of sabotage/vandalism etc. please report these to us via our contact form by selecting IMDb Contributor > I need help and haven't submitted an update > Titles > Other title issues followed by E-mail to get in touch with our Customer Service team.
  • The Parents Guide is made up of five different categories: "Sex and Nudity", "Violence and Gore", "Profanity", "Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking" and "Frightening/Intense Scenes". You should first decide into which category you want to add the scene description. If an item can belong to multiple sections of the parental guide this item can be duplicated across categories – please do not delete these if you have simply seen it before in another category.
  • If the title you wish to submit to has not yet been released you may add information based on previous titles or trailers however please include specific information as to where your assumptions have come from i.e. (based on the trailer) or (based on the first 2 films).
  • You might receive suggestions on how to improve your contribution as you type. We recommend you take these suggestions, however you could also ignore them, just make sure to acknowledge all the warnings before you submit.
  • After you are satisfied with your contribution, click "Submit".


Tracking your contribution


You can now track the status of your Parental Guide submission and if it has not been approved, we'll tell you the reason why.

For more information on this feature, please check out our specific help site article for the Contribution History. 

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