Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Parents need to know Dr. Strangelove is a 1964 dark-humored satire on Cold War politics and nuclear weaponry directed by Stanley Kubrick. Teens who view this movie may need some background to understand the sense of helpless peril of the Cold War years. They may also need some preparation to understand the nature of black comedy, and some may find it, and particularly the unconventional ending, very disturbing. There is cigar and cigarette smoking and occasional sexualized imagery, including a scantily clad secretary clearing having an affair with her boss. Off screen, a character commits suicide with a bullet to the head. There are some battle scenes involving the U.S. Army fighting with itself after a tyrannical general takes over a base and tries to start World War III.