A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this movie.
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Positive Messages
none
No real lessons are learned, and there are no real consequences.
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Positive Role Models
very little
It's hard to consider Roy Freeman a role model, even though he's a good detective and solves the mystery. His past is filled with violence and substance abuse that hasn't entirely left him, and he faces few, if any, consequences.
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Diverse Representations
very little
The movie is driven mainly by White characters, one of whom has Alzheimer's disease. Karen Gillan plays a femme fatale type who seems fairly strong-willed, although the movie tells several false versions of who she is and what she does. Playing into stereotypes, the movie's Death Row prisoner, Isaac Samuel, is Black (Zimbabwe-born Pacharo Mzembe). Mixed-race Australian actor Paula Arundell plays Susan Avery, who's seen twice. A kind Black bartender has a brief exchange with Roy in one scene. The movie's portrayal of Alzheimer's disease feels inaccurate, playing it more like amnesia than the troubling real-life illness it is.
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Violence & Scariness
a lot
Character is beaten to death with a bat; the impact isn't shown, but there are crunching sounds and blood spatters on the killer's face. Guns and shooting, sometimes fatally. Someone driving a truck tries to mow down the main character, who fires a gun at the driver and kills them. Extremely gory crime scene photos/imagery. Surgical scars on character's head. Reference to a character dying of cancer. Character works in some kind of slaughterhouse, cutting up meat; bloody tarps and hooks seen. Brief Iraq War footage, explosion. A drunk man a shoves woman on his way out of a bar.
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Sex, Romance & Nudity
a lot
A character has a collection of sex tapes, supposedly depicting sex with many different partners; footage from one of the tapes shows a woman's face looking back at her lover, who's behind her. There are audible sex noises, and a long shot shows a man with his face between a woman's legs. Two characters have sex, with thrusting; one orders "choke me!" and "harder!" Passionate kissing, flirting.
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Language
a lot
Many uses of "f--k," plus "motherf----r," "s--t," "bulls--t," "c--t," "bitch," "son of a bitch," "Jesus Christ," "piss."
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Products & Purchases
very little
Brands briefly seen in character's apartment include RC Cola, Corn Flakes, and Hungry Man frozen dinners.
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Drinking, Drugs & Smoking
a lot
Main character is said to have a history of substance abuse. In flashbacks, he drinks too much at a bar and prepares to drive. (He's said to have been in an accident.) In the present, he's not supposed to drink due to his medications, but he's tempted by a bottle of whiskey and ends up finishing it, shot by shot. He later wakes up on an abandoned couch on the street. Characters die of Fentanyl overdose. Bottles of Fentanyl found in car. Characters suffer "mean side effects" from trauma medication. Cigarette and pot smoking. Social drinking. Dialogue: "We all drank on the job." Hallucinating.
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Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Sleeping Dogs is a mystery about an ex-police-detective (Russell Crowe) with Alzheimer's disease who's called upon to re-investigate a 10-year-old case before a man is executed. Violence is intense and includes guns and shooting, deaths, very gory images of a crime scene, a character beaten to death with a baseball bat (not shown, but it's heard, and blood spatter is shown), and more. While there's no nudity, there are two sex scenes that depict oral sex and choking, and one character keeps sex tapes of multiple partners; a woman's face is shown while her partner is behind her. Strong language includes uses of "f--k," "motherf----r," "s--t," "bulls--t," "c--t," "bitch," and more. The main character has a history of substance abuse and is seen drinking to excess, characters die of Fentanyl overdoses, and there's cigarette and pot smoking and casual drinking. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
What's the Story?
In SLEEPING DOGS, ex-police detective Roy Freeman (Russell Crowe) has had experimental surgery to hopefully turn around his Alzheimer's disease. He gets a request to visit a Death Row prisoner, Isaac Samuel (Pacharo Mzembe), whom Roy helped convict of murder a decade earlier and is about to be executed. Roy can remember nothing from that time, but he agrees to look at the old files to see whether he can find anything. The murder victim was renowned psychologist Joseph Wieder (Marton Csokas), who developed a radical process for healing trauma. Roy speaks to a few people connected with the case, including psychology student/researcher Laura Baines (Karen Gillan), who worked with Wieder; handyman Wayne Devereaux (Thomas M. Wright); and Roy's own ex-partner, Jimmy Remis (Tommy Flanagan). The deeper Roy digs, the more everyone seems to be guilty. But there's still one more layer of the puzzle to go.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Sleeping Dogs' violence. How did it make you feel? Was it exciting? Shocking? What did the movie show or not show to achieve this effect? Why is that important?
How is drinking depicted? Is it glamorized? Are there consequences? What's the difference between casual drinking and alcohol abuse?
How is sex portrayed? Is there consent? Respect? Is sex taken for granted or used for power? If so, how?
How is Alzheimer's disease addressed? Does the portrayal seem accurate or honest, or is it just a plot device?
What is a femme fatale? Does Laura Baines qualify as one? Can femme fatale characters be powerful women?
Movie Details
- In theaters: March 22, 2024
- Cast: Russell Crowe, Karen Gillan, Marton Csokas
- Director: Adam Cooper
- Inclusion Information: Female actors
- Studio: The Avenue
- Genre: Thriller
- Run time: 110 minutes
- MPAA rating: R
- MPAA explanation: violence/bloody images, sexual content and language
- Last updated: May 10, 2024
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