Finding Nemo
A warm and funny ocean adventure about a dad crossing the sea to bring his little boy home, but the film opens with a genuine loss and sprinkles real peril throughout. Most school-age kids love it; the opening minutes and a few creature sequences are worth knowing about before watching with the very young or sensitive.
A great fit for ages 5 and up; many confident 4-year-olds enjoy it too, especially with a quick heads-up about the opening scene.
If you’d rather skip
A barracuda attacks Marlin's family in the first few minutes; the outcome (the mother and all eggs lost except Nemo) is conveyed quickly and without gore, but the emotional weight is real and can upset young or sensitive children.
Nemo is scooped up by a scuba diver, screams for Marlin, and is whisked away on a speedboat; the sudden capture may be distressing for children anxious about separation.
Bruce the great white shark enters a feeding frenzy after detecting blood, his eyes turn black, and he repeatedly lunges at Marlin and Dory through a sunken submarine; the chase lasts several minutes and is the film's most intense predator sequence.