Code V - Vomit[1]
For years it seemed like every single movie had at least one scene with someone throwing up. It got to point where my wife would have to deal with an appalled me wincing at the scene and angrily uttering, “Oh my god! Every f***ing movie!” I thought it was just me. Then, in December 2019, Joe Queenan wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal titled: And the Winner for The Best Upchuck Scene Is... I didn't feel so alone.
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| Artist's (well AI's) rendering of a couple being grossed out. |
In the article, Queenan points out that the pervasiveness of these scenes has been a thing for about (at the time) 15 years and concludes by insinuating that it’s likely going to continue. Additionally, he points out that while it used to be isolated to "mass-market comedies, shoot-em-ups or horror films,"[2] it is now permeating art-house and Academy Award worthy films.
Can movies be made without someone getting violently ill? Or, at least, can someone start including it as a warning in the rating description? Rating descriptions already include warnings for language, sexual content, nudity, violence, tobacco depiction, drug use, and even for (in older movies) stereotypes. Surely, a vomit warning isn’t too hard to add.
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| Surely, adding a few more words to the warning couldn't hurt |
In October 2024, I was lucky enough to visit the Tate Modern in London. One of the exhibits, My rukus! Heart by Topher Campbell, had a warning sign to point this out. I thought that was respectable. I didn’t feel seduced into seeing something without ample warning.
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| We need this kind of warning for movies. |
I do love movies. But I've been losing my love for it. I find a lot of newer movies are unwatchable for a number of reasons. One of those reasons is the constant retching. Even if there's a film I do want to see, I'm always reticent to buy a ticket or even press play it because of this. Most times I won't even bother or maybe put on something I've seen before. At least if there's a warning, I can at least pinpoint what ones to watch rather than opting to watch nothing.
With that I feel compelled to at least keep a list of movies I’ve watched that are Code-V free or include it. If you get grossed out like me, I hope this helps to provide some warning. Additionally, I’ve created three categories to classify what the movie falls into.
So if you want to know if there's puking in a movie, I hope this list helps. I'll be updating it regularly.
If you have any movies to mention, or if I made a mistake, please feel free to mention it in the comments.
Categories
V-Free: Code-V Free.
V-Imply: The motion is there or the sound is there or both are there. So, it could be shielded: such as having their head in a toilet bowl and you don't see any vomitus. But you could hear it <shivers> and maybe see the body movement. Additionally, I would classify hearing it but the action is taking place off screen into this category. I also consider imitating it (like what Cru Jones did in Rad or Buzz McCallister did in Home Alone) a V-Imply.
V-FullOn: You see it all. If you don’t see it but there’s say a pile on the floor (like in Wild At Heart), I’m including it here. If there are multiple scenes where there are a V-Imply and a V-FullOn (like Knives Out), I’m tagging it with a FullOn!
Movie List
Love Hurts [2025]
References:
[1] Kenn Pellman and Lynn Barron, Cleaning The Kingdom: Insider Tales of Keeping Walt's Dream Spotless. (Synergy Books Publishing, USA, 2015), 441
[2] Joe Queenan. (December 14-15, 2019). "And the Winner for The Best Upchuck Scene Is..." wsj.com. Accessed Jan 1, 2025
