Psycho
Caution. Age: 18+. A Catholic review of this movie for parents.
Our review
A woman steals some money and drives away. She stops for the night at a lonely motel run by a shy young man named Norman Bates, and something terrible happens there. Her sister and her boyfriend try to find out the truth. This is a very scary film for grown-ups. It is not for kids. Hitchcock's craft is close to perfect, and the film shows less than its reputation suggests. The knife is never seen to strike. The moral problems are quieter. The story opens on an unmarried couple after a hotel-room meeting, and the camera makes the viewer a peeping Tom alongside Norman. The ending explains everything as mental illness and leaves no word about sin, guilt or mercy. Norman's wearing of his mother's clothes is a delusion in the plot, not romance of any kind, so nothing here by itself makes it Not recommended. A formed adult can watch it with profit. It is not family viewing, whatever the age on the box. Caution.
For parents
Adults. Common Sense Media says 14 plus, and the film is tamer on screen than modern horror, but the Legion of Decency rated it morally objectionable in part and it carries an R today. Lumen would not show it to a young teen. If an older teen has seen it, talk about three things. First, Marion and Sam: their affair is treated as ordinary, and the Church calls it gravely contrary to the dignity of persons (CCC 2353). Second, the peephole: the film makes us look with Norman. Ask why that is uncomfortable, and why it should be. Third, the psychiatrist's speech. Illness can lessen a person's guilt (CCC 1860), and Norman is plainly very sick. But the film stops there. It never asks about the soul, the victims or God's mercy. Explain also that Norman dressing as his mother is a symptom of his madness in the story. He believes he is her. It is not about attraction to anyone.