We've all had to go through it at least once: you're with your family, you all decide to watch a film that no one has seen before, and you get about halfway through it when suddenly a scene comes on that makes you wish you could sink into the nearest wall and disappear.

Scenes that are gratuitously sexy, gory, or vulgar can make for an awkward time when you're watching alongside company. Wouldn't it be great if you could know about these scenes ahead of time? Well, you can.

Sites like Common Sense Media, Kids In Mind, and CringeMDb exist to make this easy for you, but they all have flaws such as not covering enough movies, not being clear enough about what to expect, or simply being wrong in their judgments.

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The most effective solution is to turn to the Internet Movie Database, search for the particular film you want to watch, and look in the sidebar for the Parents Guide. Each film has its own page for this.

Parents Guide pages are user-maintained, meaning that any user can edit the ratings across Sex & Nudity, Violence & Gore, Profanity, Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking, and Frightening/Intense Scenes. These pages aren't based on opinion. Rather, they simply describe scenes in the film that fall under each category.

Since these pages are user-maintained, most films have at least something written in their respective Parents Guide, and they tend to be accurate. It's a shame that most users don't know about the Parents Guide, as it can be quite handy. Hopefully it proves helpful to you.

Did you know about the Parents Guide on IMDb? What resources do you use to gauge the awkwardness or inappropriateness of a film? Share with us below!

Image Credit: Friends Watching Movie by oneinchpunch via Shutterstock