Arthur the King

image for Arthur the King

Short takes

Not suitable under 12; parental guidance to 13 (course language, distressing themes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Arthur the King
  • a review of Arthur the King completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 2 October 2024.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 12 Not suitable due to coarse language and distressing themes.
Children aged 12–13 Parental guidance recommended due to coarse language and distressing themes.
Children aged 14 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

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: Arthur the King
Classification: M
Consumer advice lines: Coarse language
Length: 107 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

After a humiliating loss at the 2015 Adventure Racing World Championship and subsequent 3-year break, Michael Light (Mark Wahlberg) is desperate for one last chance to win the Championships. After convincing a sponsor to back him, Michael and his ragtag team of athletes, Leo (Simu Liu), Olivia (Nathalie Emmanuel) and Chik (Ali Suliman), set off to the Dominican Republic for the race of a lifetime. Over the course of 10 days and 435 miles, a stray dog they dub ‘Arthur’ joins their group, and together they face the jungle. From treacherous cliff climbing to gruelling marathons and dangerously fast cycling, this unusual team of friends forge unbreakable bonds in the hopes of getting one final win.

Themesinfo

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.

Second chances; Animal abuse; Inner strength; Grief; Corporate marketisation.

Use of violenceinfo

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:

  • There are several scenes where characters are arguing and yelling at each other aggressively.
  • It is stated that Arthur has been violently abused, causing terrible wounds.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

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:

  • There are visibly aggressive dogs shown loudly barking, growling and snarling, and they chase Arthur across the city.
  • A large, visibly infected wound is shown.
  • A close-up of a blister is shown while a character rips the top layer of skin from it.
  • A close-up of a character vomiting from exhaustion is shown.
  • Arthur is shown submerged in a lake and visibly drowning, before he is pulled up by Michael, gasping for breath and trembling.
  • Characters nearly fall from a cliff, before being saved by Arthur.

Aged five to eightinfo

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.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

  • Arthur is shown being yelled at and chased away by people.
  • Arthur is shown limping, with a large bleeding wound on his shoulder.
  • Arthur collapses in exhaustion several times.
  • Michael is informed that it would be best to put Arthur to sleep due to an infected, infested wound that is causing a huge amount of pain.
  • Michael is shown visibly distressed, breaking down and crying over Arthur as he deliberates euthanising him.
  • A character, distressed and teary, mentions that their father is dying of cancer and only has a year to live.
  • The film appears to end on a cliff-hanger, where Michael is sitting with Arthur who is unlikely to live; then cuts to18 months later and Arthur is shown happy and well.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

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.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:

  • Characters are shown dangling from a zipline with no safety equipment, and they nearly fall to their deaths.
  • Michael frequently expresses feelings of worthlessness, particularly due to his many losses. He states that he is good at suffering.
  • Michael is shown frequently ruminating over a humiliating image posted of him on Instagram by Leo.

Thirteen and overinfo

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.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • Before the film began, a Powerade advertisement from Amazon Prime was shown.
  • Logos on competitors’ shirts include ‘The Adventure Racing World Series’ logo and the ‘Nissan’ logo.
  • Corporate sponsorship for sports related brands are present throughout the film.
  • A character is shown uploading a photo to Instagram, and frequently talks about their influencer status on Instagram and Twitter.
  • Sports related branding is present throughout the film, including ‘Under Armour’.
  • A character is seen taking Advil multiple times.
  • A Kevita drink is shown on a desk while a character is looking at the computer.
  • Cans of Redbull are shown on a table as a character packs them into a bag.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

  • A married couple kiss multiple times.
  • Leo askes Michael ‘how his ass looks’, and smacks it while ziplining.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • Leo is seen in just his boxer shorts, shaving his legs.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

  • Characters are seen multiple times drinking beer socially to unwind.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • There is frequent use of course language in this movie, primarily ‘shit’; ‘bitch’; ’crap’, ‘ass/asshole’.
  • There is one single use of ‘fuck’.
  • When referring to Chik, Leo says that he ‘has church bells for nuts’.

In a nutshell

Based on a true story, Arthur the King is a heartwarming story of perseverance, teamwork and love. Due to the confronting nature of the animal abuse experienced by Arthur, as well as coarse language and darker themes, including negative self-worth, this film is best suited to teens and up, with parental guidance for children aged 12 to 13.

The main messages from this movie are that everyone has the chance to change their ways for the better; and that second chances come in many forms.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Teamwork
  • Redemption
  • Compassion
  • Courage
  • Inner-strength
  • Perseverance
  • Leadership.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • Michael changed the way that he acted in a team throughout the film. What makes someone a good leader?
  • Michael decided that he would not euthanise Arthur, despite the vet’s advice. Why is humane euthanasia an option? Was it the right choice?
  • There is very severe animal abuse discussed in the film; parents could discuss ways in which we can protect animals to prevent animal abuse.