Vox Lux

Parents need to know that Vox Lux is a music-industry drama about a singer named Celeste who rises to stardom after surviving a school shooting. There are two sequences with graphic violence: the school shooting and a terrorist attack. Automatic weapons are fired, and characters (many of them teens) get shot, bleed, and die. Celeste is said to have a bullet lodged in her spine, and there are other descriptions of violence. Teen drinking is strongly implied (a teen girl vomits after a night out); characters also use drugs (getting quite high) and drink, and there are many mentions of drugs. Language is strong, with uses of "f--k," "s--t," "bitch," and more. A man is shown in nongraphic sexual situations with an underage teen girl, and another teen girl is said to have lost her virginity. Other sexual moments are suggested or discussed. The movie's tone is downbeat, and its messages are rather vague. But it has enough flash and dazzle to make it worth a look. Natalie Portman and Jude Law star.