Bookworm

This topic contains:

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

Overall comments and recommendations

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.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

Eleven-year-old Mildred (Nell Fisher) is a self-proclaimed Bookworm. Her daring spirit is set free in the pages of books, as her overprotective mother (Morgana O’Reilly) won’t allow much in the way of real-life adventures. When an accident lands her mother in the hospital, Mildred’s estranged American father, washed up magician Strawn Wise (Elijah Wood), arrives to look after her. In an effort to endear himself to his young daughter, Strawn agrees to take Mildred camping in the wilderness and, against his better judgement, help her capture proof of a mysterious creature known as the Canterbury Panther. As the pair come closer to reaching their goal, a chance encounter threatens to ruin everything. Finding themselves more alone than ever, they must learn to rely on each other, confront their fears and focus on what they do have instead of what they don’t.

Children separated from parents; Family breakdown; Legendary creatures; Overprotectiveness; Betrayal; Kidnapping and theft; Cowardice and Fear.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• There are jars filled with severed animal parts briefly on display.
• Mildred and Strawn stumble upon the body of a deer who has been attacked by an animal. There are gashes in its sides and flies buzzing all around.
• Mildred tells Strawn that she will try not to, “punch him in the goolies”. She mentions punching him “in the goolies” several times.
• Strawn freaks out when he sees a huge, creepy bug crawling up his shoulder. He jumps up, knocking it to the ground and proceeds to stomp on it repeatedly.
• Strawn mentions how another magician repeatedly stabbed him in the back.
• A stranger tells Strawn that he has kidnapped his daughter and orders him to give up all his valuables, otherwise she will be killed. The stranger’s partner makes a slicing gesture with her hand across her throat.
• A character chases Mildred and Strawn as they run for their lives across a mountainside.
• Strawn steals a car in order to get Mildred medical attention faster but he nearly hits a panther and flips the car over before he can get very far.

Material that may scare or disturb children

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:

• Strawn appears to be lost in a bunch of boulders. He is closed in by a thick fog that swirls around the rocks and obscures his vision. There are strange sounds coming through the fog and he is clearly terrified.

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:

• When the power suddenly goes out in Mildred’s house, she goes looking for her mother. She is clearly nervous as she walks through the house with a torch, calling for her mum. Mildred tries to get an answer by saying things like: “I will pee myself and you’ll have to clean it up.” There is no answer and there is a sense of dread as she walks towards the kitchen. Her mother is lying on the floor and there is reasonable suspicion that she has died. In the hospital, Mildred learns that her mother’s body flew backwards after she was electrocuted, that she hit her head, suffered a brain bleed and is now in a coma.
• There are sinister, growling noises one night that clearly terrify Strawn. The camera angle would indicate that something predatory is watching the tent that he and Mildred are sharing and that the creature is coming closer.
• Mildred tells Strawn that she used to wish that her mum would disappear, that he would come and find her and that he would be the one to understand her. She cries because she doesn’t want her mum to die and feels that her former wish is somehow responsible for her current situation.

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:

• Mildred and Strawn are terrified as a legendary black panther approaches them. It looks hungry and ready to attack as they inch backward towards a cliff. They grab onto a rope as the panther lunges at them and try to make their way to the other side as it claws at the end of the rope trying to snap it from the base. Mildred is crying, saying she can’t keep going and loses her grip. She is about to plummet to her death when Strawn grabs her and holds on. The rope snaps and they are swung into the solid rock of the cliff face before they lose their grip and fall through the trees to the ground. Strawn regains consciousness to the muffled sounds of Mildred screaming in pain. She is lying on the ground, bloody, battered and pinned down by a broken tree trunk. Strawn is eventually able to move the log off of her but she is not in good shape.

• Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• David Copperfield, the illusionist, as well as the novel by Charles Dickens are both briefly discussed.
• Illusionist David Blaine is repeatedly mentioned in relation to his magic.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• A neighbour asks Strawn for ID and gives him the third degree before allowing him in the house to meet Mildred. She says: “You can’t be too careful with kids these days, touching them and all.”
• Mildred says that her mother has shown terrible taste in men.
• Mildred tells Strawn that she has a boyfriend who looks like Hercules.
• Strawn tells Mildred that he had only met her mum once, for a couple of hours and that he told her to say with him in Vegas when he found out she was pregnant.
• Mildred says she found a diary of her mother’s that mentioned she was conceived in the parking lot of a convenience store. Strawn is forced to admit that this is true.
• One character accuses another of, “snogging my sister.”

Nudity and sexual activity

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

• Two characters are shown on video, flirting in a tent. The female flips her hair in a seductive manner and her partner tells her that she is flipping her hair like her sister. Instead of falling into each other’s arms the woman flies into a rage.

Use of substances

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

• Mildred tells Strawn that her aunt has substance abuse problems and that her mother has had to work three jobs in order to pay for her to get into rehab.
• Mildred instructs Strawn to feed her forest mushrooms to help her with pain. She clearly begins to hallucinate after eating them.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• Crap
• God damn it!
• Ass
• Bloody
• Jesus!
• Bugger!
• Bastard
• Shite
• Idiotic
• Hell
• D-bag
• Runt
• Dumb
• Dopey
• Pretentious, prickly asshole
• Screw that
• Christ!
• Fucking (the word is technically beeped out twice but you can still easily work out what was said).

In a nutshell

Bookworm is a father-daughter adventure set in the stunning New Zealand wilderness. The film features excellent performances, especially from young Nell Fisher, and beautiful cinematography. Due to the language and content, this is not a film for younger children but rather one best suited to audiences aged 12 and older.

The main messages from this movie are to be true to yourself; to face your fears; and to never give up on your dreams.

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

• Courage
• Determination
• Honesty
• Composure in the face of overwhelming obstacles
• Studiousness.

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

• Running away from your fears and challenges instead of facing them head on.
• Allowing others to take advantage of you.
• Putting yourself in dangerous situations for the sake of a photo or video.
• Failing to adequately prepare for a trip into the wilderness.