What is ‘Cocaine Bear’ rated?

Cocaine Bear has generated tonnes of pre-release hype as the movie’s bizarre elevator pitch has captured the public’s imagination. Doubly so because the film is partially inspired by a famous true story that is often shared online. This, plus the fact it is the last performance by legendary actor Ray Liotta, has many film fans desperate to see it. 

However, many are unsure what the film’s rating is. While the trailers make it look like a silly romp, rating boards have been notoriously hard to please with movies focused on drug use. So, how old do you have to be to get into a showing of Cocaine Bear? 

What’s the plot of Cocaine Bear?

Cocaine Bear is, as the name suggests, a film about a bear that ingests a lot of cocaine and goes on a drug-fueled rampage, forcing some locals to do their best to survive by any means necessary. The official synopsis reads: 

Inspired by the 1985 true story of a drug runner’s plane crash, missing cocaine, and the black bear that ate it, this wild dark comedy finds an oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists and teens converging in a Georgia forest where a 500- pound apex predator has ingested a staggering amount of cocaine and gone on a coke-fueled rampage for more blow … and blood.

What is Cocaine Bear’s rating?

The American rating board MPAA has given Cocaine Bear an R-rating. The firm expands on this rating by saying:

“Rated R for bloody violence and gore, drug content, and language throughout.”

Many international rating boards have given the film similarly high ratings. The film has been given an 18A certificate in Canada, R16 in New Zealand, 15 in Sweden, and M18 in Singapore, meaning most countries agree that Cocaine Bear is only suitable for older audiences.

The BBFC (the movie rating board for the UK) gave the film a 15 certificate, meaning no one under 15 can enter. Its breakdown of why it gave the movie this rating focuses on the film’s violence, with the summary explaining: 

A cocaine-fuelled bear goes on a murderous rampage in this broad, frenetic US action comedy in which violence has very gory consequences in keeping with the outrageous dark humour and chaotic tone.

In its category-by-category breakdown, the BBFC rates the film five out of five for violence, three out of five for threat and horror, four out of five for language, three out of five for sex, four out of five for drugs, five out of five for injury detail. So those who are squeamish should likely give this one a miss.