The Manor parents guide

The Manor Parent Guide

There's comparatively little violence here, but the script compensates by having the protagonist swear like a sailor.

Overall D

Amazon Prime: Still recovering from a stroke, Judith moves into a nursing home located in a beautiful historic manor house. But the longer she spends there, the more convinced she becomes that something is preying on the other residents...and might be coming for her.

Release date October 8, 2021

Violence C
Sexual Content A-
Profanity D
Substance Use C-

Why is The Manor rated Not Rated? The MPAA rated The Manor Not Rated

Run Time: 81 minutes

Parent Movie Review

Judith (Barbara Hershey) is looking good for 70, and she still loves to dance and spend time with her family – until a stroke forces her to confront her own mortality. Unwilling to force her family to watch her decline, Judith checks herself into the Golden Sun Manor Nursing Home. While the building and extensive grounds are appealing, Judith soon finds that most of the staff are quite rude and that her freedoms will be extensively curtailed. Worse, she begins to suspect that some supernatural evil is stalking the residents and killing them in their beds. But since she’s just been diagnosed with dementia, she’s going to have a hard time convincing anybody.

This movie is riddled with flaws, but the most glaring by far is the script. At best, the dialogue is blandly familiar. But it’s not usually at it’s best. What you get instead are disjointed tangents, unclear characterizations, and unnatural conversations. That’s all a real shame, because the sets have this wonderfully dark and foreboding atmosphere, which is great – and which is then completely wasted because there’s no way to take the story or characters at all seriously.

It’s not a good sign when I’m checking my watch in an 80 minute movie, but I couldn’t believe how slow the movie felt. I don’t even know what kind of Einsteinian temporal physics you have to manipulate to slow time so drastically, but I’m sure there are better applications for the process than dragging out a bad movie.

While there is remarkably little violence, all things considered, the movie compensates by making the protagonist swear like a sailor – nearly all of the extreme profanity in the film is delivered by a sweet little old lady. Ironically, this does not make the movie more suitable for viewing with your grandparents. Or anyone else, for that matter, since it’s so remarkably mind-numbing.

Blumhouse may have its name on some big horror productions, but the quality of those productions varies by orders of magnitude. Sure, you could get lucky: You could get Get Out or Freaky – but you’re more likely to get something like Split, Fantasy Island, or, heaven forbid, The Hunt. Unsurprisingly, The Manor falls on the wrong side of that divide.

Directed by Axelle Carolyn. Starring Barbara Hershey, Bruce Davison, and Stacey Travis. Running time: 81 minutes. Theatrical release October 8, 2021. Updated

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The Manor
Rating & Content Info

Why is The Manor rated Not Rated? The Manor is rated Not Rated by the MPAA

Violence: Several dead bodies are seen. A bird is decapitated. Characters are grabbed and restrained, and are injured in falls.
Sexual Content: There is one mild sexual reference.
Profanity: There are 11 extreme profanities, 10 scatological curses, and infrequent use of mild curses and terms of deity.
Alcohol / Drug Use: Adult characters are seen smoking marijuana, suggested to be for medical purposes.

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The Manor Parents' Guide

What are some signs of elder abuse? How can you make sure that senior citizens are properly cared for in private institutions?

National Institute on Aging: Spotting the Signs of Elder Abuse

Canada.ca: How you can identify abuse and help older adults at risk

 

Home Video

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The grim realities of ageing are not uncommon film fare, and show up in movies like The Visit, >Relic, The Father, and Still Alice.