About CineParenting
We are four parents in India with eight children between us. We watch what our own kids want to watch, and we tell you what is actually in it.
Why this site exists
Every parent has had the same evening. The children want to watch something. The poster looks harmless. The certificate says one thing, the streaming app says another, and half an hour in there is a scene you would not have chosen for them — and now you are having a conversation you were not ready to have.
A certificate is one letter and one number. It cannot tell you that the violence is bloodless but relentless, or that a film is technically a PG but opens with a parent dying. That gap — between what the certificate says and what a parent actually needs to know — is the whole reason this site exists.
Who we are
CineParenting is written by four parents based in India. None of us are professional film critics, and we do not pretend to be. Our qualification is simpler and, we think, more useful: we are raising eight children between us, and we watch these films sitting next to them.
We notice the things a critic does not have to notice — the moment a child goes quiet, or looks away, or asks a question you were not ready for.
Ritu Kandpal — Editor
Ritu runs CineParenting and is accountable for everything published here. She is a parent of three and has always been a reader and a writer as much as a watcher. She sets our age-band verdicts and signs off every guide before it goes live.
Heena — Series & Drama
Heena covers television and streaming series, which is where most family arguments actually happen — a film is two hours, a series is forty. She is a parent of one, and a long-time Game of Thrones obsessive, which means she has a particularly sharp eye for the gap between “your teenager can handle this” and “your teenager should watch this with you in the room.”
Vijay — Film & Action
Vijay covers films, and action and superhero films in particular. He is a parent of three and a lifelong Marvel fan — which, as he will tell you, is exactly why he is careful about them. He knows how easily a PG-13 rating on a superhero film gets read by a nine-year-old as “this is for me.”
Neha — Animation & Younger Viewers
Neha covers animation and content for younger children — the category parents most often assume is safe by default, and the one where that assumption most often goes wrong. Animation is not a genre and it is not an age rating, and Neha’s job is to keep saying so.
What we do
For every film and series we cover, we tell you:
- The official certificate — from the MPA, the BBFC, or the relevant board — and the official reason behind it, quoted directly and linked to the source.
- What is actually in it — violence, language, sex, fear, substances, and the heavy themes that certificates never capture.
- A straight answer, by age band — is this alright for a ten-year-old, a fourteen-year-old, a sixteen-year-old? Yes, no, or with guidance.
- What to talk about afterwards — because the conversation after a difficult film often matters more than whether they watched it.
We tell you when we have not seen it
This is the part we most want you to know about.
We cannot watch everything. Nobody can. So every guide on this site carries a badge telling you exactly what it is built from:
- 🎬 Verified Guide — one of us watched it in full. The guide says who, and when.
- 📋 Research-Based Guide — built from the official certificate and rating reason and published material. We have not screened it ourselves, and we say so.
- 📅 Pre-Release Guide — the title is not out yet. Built from the official certificate and pre-release materials. We upgrade it once we have watched it.
We are working through our back catalogue and upgrading guides to Verified as fast as we can watch them. We will never describe a scene we have not seen as though we had. Our full method is on our How We Rate page, and we would rather you read it before you trust us.
What we are not
We are not a classification body, and we have no connection to the MPA, the BBFC, any studio or any streaming service.
We are also not a substitute for you. You know your child; we do not. A sensitive nine-year-old and a fearless nine-year-old are not the same audience, and no website can tell the difference. Our job is to hand you the facts and get out of the way.
How we pay for it
CineParenting is free to read and funded by advertising. No studio, distributor or streaming service has ever paid for a guide, a verdict or a placement, and we will not accept such an arrangement. Our standards are set out in full in our Editorial Policy.
Tell us when we are wrong
We will get things wrong, and we would rather hear it from you than not hear it at all. Email [email protected] — we aim to fix factual errors within seven days, and we log the correction on the page so you can see exactly what changed.
If there is a film or series you want covered, tell us that too.
CineParenting · India · [email protected]