Parents guide

Humans are accompanied by "daemons," which are animals (an ermine, monkeys, cats, rats, etc.) described as "the soul living outside the body" and can speak to their corresponding human, unheard by others; there are also witches who fly, and huge polar bears that snarl and growl and bare long, sharp teeth.

Two bears fight: they punch, kick, throw each other on the ground, one pulls a piece of the other's armor off, one bites the other's leg (it begins to limp), one is struck in the head several times, one is struck hard in the face and its lower jaw is torn off (we see the jaw come off and we see tissue dangling) and it is then bitten in the throat and falls to the ground dead. A large polar bear tears at something (we see bloody tissue and hear crunching).

Several people with bows and arrows fire at others, several are struck, others shoot back and forth, a polar bear stomps on one person, and a girl is taken away with a bag over her head (when people or their daemons are struck and killed they burst into sparks and disappear).

Several children are stopped by many soldiers with wolves, a wolf lunges at a girl, a polar bear strikes it down, a large fight among many people ensues, involving gunfire, arrows and hand-to-hand combat; many people die by bursting into sparks, and a bear is restrained by many ropes and struggles to get free before being shot (it's OK).

A girl and her daemon are placed in a cage and a device begins to "cut them apart": we see a bright light (like a laser) moving down between them, they both thrash and scream and the procedure is stopped before completion.

A man is shot at by men with guns, he falls over an icy ridge and slides down, he continues to run while being shot at, many wolves and men with guns surround him and they fight; he then falls over another ridge causing one man to fall to his death but he is grabbed by other men and led away (he has a bloody and bruised face).

A man with a gun aims at a girl and a woman stabs the man in the chest (there's no blood).

A girl is chased through dark streets by several men who snare her in a net; the men are shot by others with bows and arrows and the girl is cut out of the net by a man with a knife (she is OK).

A woman strikes her daemon hard across the face (it falls on the floor and whimpers). A monkey grabs a rat by the throat and squeezes and we see the rat's human boy gasping and gagging. A girl is chased by a monkey, she climbs out of a window, closes the window on the monkey's hand and the monkey's human complains from pain. A monkey and a cat fight, the monkey grabs the cat around the throat, and the cat pleads with its human to make it stop (it stops and the scene ends).

Many polar bears wearing armor surround a girl and act in a threatening manner; one threatens to kill her. A girl walks across a narrow ice bridge, she slips, and the ice breaks out from under her (she gets to the other side OK).

There is no drug use or smoking.

There are some scenes with characters having a glass of wine.

A bottle of wine is poisoned with white powder poured into it. In one scene, the child, Lyra, drinks a sip of wine, but spits it out again.

In the scene where we meet Lorek he drinks whiskey and talks about being drunk. Also, an "Ice Bear" (a polar bear) works to get whiskey, but it is pointed out by Lyra, the main character, that he shouldn't waste his time working for whiskey and that it's pathetic.

In final battle, two flying witches get fatally shot by tartars. As they are falling to their deaths, they horribly scream in agony. This can be quite intense and frightening for young viewers. Several dead witches can also be seen on the ground throughout the battle.

A child is seen in a distraught state after having his soul ripped away. There is also a fight scene in the last few minutes of the movie.

There is an escape scene where Lyra realizes she is in danger, and that many people are trying to kidnap her that is quite intense for younger viewers.

Bears are very big and have warrior nature. When they stand on hind legs and roar showing their teeth in wide open mouth they can be scary.

In one scene, a kidnapper asks Lyra to remove her shoulder bag, but Lyra refuses. They get in a fight, and their "demons" begin fighting, and Lyra appears to be choking for a moment. It can be an intense scene for younger viewers.

There is another scene where Lyra and her demon are caged and the scientists are attempting to separate here from her demon. This is a bit intense and disturbing, especially after having seen the distraught child earlier.