Someone messaged us last week: “Why is ClearAge higher than PG for a film the board has already cleared?” Fair question. Conclave is a good example of what we mean.
Open any guide and you’ll see two age stamps. One is the official rating for your country. The other is ours.
We can’t rewrite the official rating. A PG rating in the US or Australia means what the relevant classification body says it means. Our number is narrower: it is the youngest age at which we would watch that film with a child, with a parent in the room. Same movie, different viewpoints.
Example: Conclave
Conclave is rated PG in the US. We recommend it for ages 13 and up.
Nobody is bleeding all over the floor. It is a Vatican thriller about cardinals locked away to choose a new pope after the previous one dies. There are a few references to church scandals and wartime violence, along with words such as “hell” and “damn” when tempers flare. The film could still feel heavy to a twelve-year-old expecting a gentle PG movie night.
That is why we raised the recommended age. PG covers a lot of ground. A gentle family comedy and a political thriller about faith can share the same official rating. In our household, with children between twelve and fifteen, we would wait until the early teens for this one, even with the PG rating.
We are not saying the classification board is wrong. PG remains the official rating. We are simply saying that our recommendation for watching this title with a parent starts at an older age.
It can go the other way too. Sometimes we recommend a younger age when we would watch a film sooner than its official rating might suggest. Either way, the official rating remains unchanged, and our recommended age is our opinion.
Use both, read what we flagged, and then make the call for your children. You can read about our process on How we review a film. Full guide: Conclave on ClearAge.