It’s been over a decade since David Clark decided to turn a group of strangers into a fake suburban family to smuggle two tons of "marihuana" across the Mexican border. If you’re looking for the We're the Millers rating, you probably already know it’s rated R. But ratings are kinda weird. Sometimes an R means "artistic nudity and intense violence," and other times it means "four people accidentally seeing things they can’t unsee in a Mexican jail."
This movie is definitely the latter.
When We’re the Millers dropped in 2013, it was a massive sleeper hit. People loved it. Critics? They were a bit more split. But the real question for anyone hovering over the "Play" button on Netflix or Max today is usually about whether the humor holds up or if it’s just too crude for the living room. It's a raunchy comedy. It’s loud. It’s full of F-bombs.
Let's get into what that R rating actually looks like in practice.
Breaking Down the We’re the Millers Rating
The Motion Picture Association (MPA) gave it an R for crude sexual content, pervasive language, drug material, and brief graphic nudity. That’s the official line. But honestly, that doesn't tell the whole story.
You’ve got Jennifer Aniston playing a stripper. You’ve got Jason Sudeikis playing a low-level weed dealer. Then there's the "kids." Will Poulter’s character, Kenny, is the heart of the movie’s most awkward moments. If you’re watching this with parents, the "kissing lesson" scene is going to make you want to dissolve into the floorboards. It is excruciatingly funny, but it is deeply, deeply uncomfortable.
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Why the "R" matters here
Most comedies try to play it safe to get a PG-13. They want that teenage box office money. We’re the Millers leaned into the hard R. It’s why the dialogue feels a bit more natural, even when it’s totally absurd. People in high-stress smuggling situations don't say "gosh darn it." They swear. A lot.
The language is constant. If you have a low tolerance for the F-word, this isn't your movie. It’s used as a noun, verb, adjective, and probably a comma at some point. It’s pervasive. It’s baked into the DNA of the script.
Is the Humor Too Dark for You?
Rating systems often miss the "vibe" of a movie.
There is a scene involving a spider bite. I won't spoil the visual for the uninitiated, but let’s just say it involves Will Poulter’s anatomy and some very graphic practical effects. This is the "brief graphic nudity" the MPA mentioned. It’s played for laughs, but it’s body horror levels of gross-out humor.
Then there’s the drug stuff.
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Obviously, the whole plot is about smuggling drugs. But it isn't Scarface. It’s not glorifying the cartel life. If anything, it makes the drug trade look like a nightmare of incompetence. The "marihuana" (as David insists on calling it to sound more "professional") is everywhere. It’s literally the walls of the RV.
- Violence: Surprisingly low. There’s some peril, a few guns pointed at people, and a very intense scene with a cartel boss, but it’s not a "blood and guts" movie.
- Sexuality: High on dialogue and situations, but relatively low on actual "action." Aside from Aniston’s dance sequences—which are more athletic than purely erotic—the sex stuff is mostly verbal.
- The Cringe Factor: This is the real metric. The movie thrives on making you feel second-hand embarrassment.
What the Critics Said vs. The Audience
The We’re the Millers rating on Rotten Tomatoes shows a classic divide. Critics gave it a 48%. They called it predictable. They said it was "formulaic."
Audiences? They gave it a 72%.
Why the gap? Because critics often hate road trip comedies. They see the beats coming a mile away. You know they’re going to get stuck in the RV. You know they’re going to start caring about each other. You know the "fake" family will become a "real" family by the time the credits roll.
But for a Friday night movie, that formula works. It’s comfort food with a foul mouth.
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Managing the Living Room Vibe
If you’re thinking about showing this to a teenager, you’re basically looking at a "cool parent" gamble. Common Sense Media generally suggests it’s for ages 16 and up. That feels right. A 13-year-old has heard the language, sure, but the sexual themes might be a bit much for a family movie night.
It’s interesting to compare it to something like The Hangover. While The Hangover is about chaos and mystery, We’re the Millers is about a weird, twisted version of domesticity. It’s the subversion of the "classic American family" that makes the R-rated jokes land harder. Seeing a "mom" and "dad" negotiate a drug hand-off is the core of the joke.
Practical Takeaways for Your Watchlist
If you’re still on the fence about the We're the Millers rating, consider these points:
- Check the environment. This is not a "background movie" for a party with kids running around. The visual gags are too explicit for that.
- Know your limits on "cringe." If you hate movies where characters get into increasingly awkward sexual misunderstandings, skip the middle hour of this film.
- Appreciate the cast. Regardless of the rating, the chemistry between Sudeikis and Aniston is top-tier. They sell the "married couple who hates each other" vibe perfectly because they’re both masters of sarcasm.
- Look for the "Extended Cut." If you find the R rating too tame (unlikely, but possible), the "Unrated" version adds about eight minutes of extra footage, mostly just more riffing and slightly more "drug material."
The movie stands as a relic of a time when mid-budget R-rated comedies could still dominate the box office. Nowadays, these movies mostly go straight to streaming. Watching it now feels like a throwback to the era of Dodgeball or Horrible Bosses.
Final Decision Matrix
Go ahead and watch it if you enjoy fast-paced banter and don't mind a bit of "gross-out" visual comedy. It’s a solid 7/10 for a weekend laugh. However, if you are sensitive to drug use being used as a comedic central theme, or if "raunchy" isn't your style, the R rating here will definitely offend you.
To get the most out of your viewing, make sure you aren't watching a censored "TV-edit" version. The timing of the jokes in this movie relies heavily on the uncensored delivery. If you see it playing on a basic cable channel on a Sunday afternoon, half the movie will be silenced or dubbed over with hilarious, nonsensical "clean" words, which actually ruins the comedic timing. Find the original theatrical cut on a streaming service to see why the We're the Millers rating was earned in the first place.
Keep an eye out for the cameo by Nick Offerman and Kathryn Hahn. They play a vacationing couple that provides some of the movie's funniest—and most R-rated—roadblocks. Their "swinging" sub-plot is a masterclass in uncomfortable comedy that perfectly justifies the film's restrictive rating while delivering some of its biggest laughs.