Not recommended under 12, parental guidance to 15 (subtitles, violence, scary scenes)
This topic contains:
Children under 10 | Not recommended due to use of subtitles (children need to be confident readers), violence and scary scenes. |
Children aged 10-11 | Not recommended due to violence and scary scenes. |
Children aged 12-15 | Parental guidance is recommended. |
Children over the age of 15 | Ok for this age group. |
This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.
Name of movie: | Alpha |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild survival themes and sense of peril. |
Length: | 96 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
In Palaeolithic Europe (20,000 years ago) a young teenager “Keda” (Kodi Smit-McPhee), son of the tribal chief, is finally permitted to join the other hunters of his tribe on their annual bison hunt. The journey is long and arduous and Keda’s mother Rho (Natassia Malthe) is worried that her son is not yet ready for such danger (and killing). She is reassured by the chief (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson) that her son has the strength to survive and to help provide for the tribe. As they travel towards the bison, following on ancient pathways marked by their ancestors, it is difficult for Keda to live up to his father’s expectations and his confidence wavers. When they finally make it to the bison, Keda is tragically separated from his tribe and finds himself alone and injured in the wilderness. Whilst defending himself against a pack of wolves, Keda causes serious harm to one of the wolves who is left bleeding and close to death. His kind heart makes him pity the dying creature and he nurses her back to health. Slowly the animal starts to trust Keda and their relationship develops into one of mutual comfort and help. Keda names her ‘Alpha’ (played by chuck, the Czechoslovakian wolfdog) and together they start back towards Keda’s tribe. The journey is full of peril and near-death experiences, but the dog and the young man must work together to survive.
Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.
Survival, separation from family, coming of age, prehistoric history, hunting, killing animals, father and son relationships.
Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.
There is some violence in this movie including:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.
Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.
The following products are displayed or used in this movie:
There are some sexual references in this movie, including:
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
Alpha is a gripping and visually spectacular tale of peril and survival which seeks to explain the origins of the human-dog relationship. Although it is rated PG, children will need to be confident readers to keep up with the subtitles. Children who are not able to read the subtitles will be able to understand the gist of what is being said and will likely enjoy the movie without being able to read them. However, due to a sense of constant peril and some scary and emotionally charged scenes this movie is more suited to older children. Parents should be aware that there is some controversy as to whether bison were harmed in the making of the film.
The main messages from this movie are that we need others to survive, and that you can find strength within yourself to keep on going, even when it looks like there is no hope.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
Selecting an age will provide a list of movies with content suitable for this age group. Children may also enjoy movies selected via a lower age.
Content is age appropriate for children this age
Some content may not be appropriate for children this age. Parental guidance recommended
Content is not age appropriate for children this age
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ABN: 16 005 214 531