Safe Haven – Teen Movie Review

This is the story of a young women named Katie (Julianne Hough). Katie is a girl on the run looking for a safe place to call home. She finally gets the courage to leave Boston and start a new life in Southport, North Carolina. In the small town of Southport, Katie bonds with a handsome widower named Alex (Josh Duhamel), and his two young children. However, she’s still haunted by her past, and is eventually forced to reveal the truth. Based on Nicholas Sparks’ novel, Safe Haven is a suspenseful, romantic film about second chances.

Rating: 3 out of 5 buckets
Release Date: May 7, 2013
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 12+
Sexual Content: Moderate
Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Excessive
Will Kids Like It? Yes (Pre-teen and teenage girls)

See the trailer here!

See a clip of my review here!

Talking Points:

In the small town of Southport, N.C. the people are friendly and look out for one another. Katie’s neighbor said, “If you live south of the Mason-Dixon Line, people are just gonna give you stuff.”

This is not only a wonderful love story, but also a suspenseful drama. Katie’s husband is a creepy, dark character who is obsessed with finding Katie. He is a detective and has the tools to find her whereabouts.

With the mature subject matter of an abusive relationship, this would be a good movie to see with your pre-teens and teens. This could spark a great parent/child conversation.

Kids may be intrigued by this movie due to the familiar actors such as; Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough.

Sexual Content: Moderate

• Katie and Alex passionately kiss, and she wraps her legs around him. We see them in bed, naked, though we only see their bare backs; we also see sexual movements.

Violent/Disturbing Content: Moderate

• We see flashbacks of Katie’s husband abusing her. He slams her, and climbs on top of her and attempts to choke her.
• Katie stabs her husband with a steak knife.
• A character pours gasoline all over Alex’s convenience store, which results in a huge fire.
• A character is shot in the head.

Crude or Profane Language: Mild

• “Sh–,” “d–n,” and “h–l,” are said.

Drugs and Alcohol Content: Excessive

• Katie’s husband is an alcoholic. He puts vodka in a water bottle, and drinks throughout the whole movie. We see him drinking vodka out of a bottle, even while driving.
  

Will Kids Like It? Yes

• Pre-teens and teenage girls will most likely enjoy this movie.

Overall Safe Haven is a romantic thriller. Parents need to be aware of the violent/disturbing content with the mature subject matter. Depending on the child, I recommend this for kids ages 12 and up.

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