Buffalo Kids

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Buffalo Kids
• a review of Buffalo Kids completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 2 June 2026.

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

Set in 1886, two Irish orphans, Mary (voiced by Alisha Weir) and Tom (voiced by Conor MacNeill), arrive in New York City expecting to be met by their uncle Niall (voiced by Stephen Graham). However, when he doesn’t show up, the kids take it into their own hands to cross the country and find him at his address in California.

After sneaking their way onto a train to California, the siblings befriend another young orphan boy named Nick (voiced by Javier Cassi Gimeno), who is non-verbal and uses a wheelchair. When the train stops to refuel, the three children sneak off to go and pet some buffalo – only to be left behind when the train departs without them! However, unbeknownst to the children, the train is taken hostage by outlaws as soon as it leaves.

Tom, Mary and Nick must then figure out a way to cross the American countryside, navigating encounters with violent outlaws, vicious coyotes and friendly Native American peoples. In this race against the clock, will the children be able to make it back to the train on time to not only reunite with their uncle, but save the hostages on the train?

Parent Loss; Crime; Wild West; Racism; Disability and Ableism; Racial Stereotyping.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• As this film is a take on the Wild West/cowboys and Native Americans genre, there is violence throughout the film. Much of this is played off in a comedic, slapstick way that does not show any blood, and few people are shown as injured.
• Importantly, all the white characters show an initial negative perspective of the Native American characters when first meeting the tribe. This includes assuming they cannot speak English, assuming they are violent, drawing their weapons without cause and directly calling them “savages”.
• In a particular scene, the bandit cowboys and the Native American tribe are fighting with each other, and a Native American elder is beaten up by one of the cowboys.
• A villain is crushed to death by bags of gold.
• Two bandit characters are shown being knocked off train tracks in a high-speed chase, presumably falling to their deaths.
• There are several instances of ableism towards Nick, including children calling him “the weird kid”, not wanting to play with him, excluding him and assuming he is incapable of doing anything.
• On several occasions, guns are shown and used in a threatening manner, including shooting out the windows of a train. No characters are directly shot.
• A male character raises a hand to, and is about to, hit a female character across the face, before she is saved by another male character.
• A bandit character threatens to ‘get rid of’ Nick as he is ‘useless’, implying that he wants him killed due to him being in a wheelchair.
• Many characters are enslaved and used to work in mines, including young children.
• A bandit character threatens to whip a child character in the face, but is punched in the face by another male character.

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:

• On several occasions, there are loud, scary gunshots that are quite jarring and function as a slight jump scare.
• On two occasions, Nick is in a spirit world quite suddenly, which may be scary due to the sudden bright colours.
• Coyotes come out of the night and have bright glowing eyes and snarling teeth.

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:

• On several occasions, Tom, Mary and Nick are threatened and chased by coyotes.
• Mary wakes up to a coyote pouncing out of the darkness and it nearly bites her, before Tom hits the animal with a stick and saves her.
• A coyote bites Tom and this injures him, causing him to not be able to walk until he is healed by a Native American character.
• A dog is chased and nearly bitten by coyotes on several occasions.
• Mary chases a dog, who jumps off the top of a train, nearly falling off. Tom saves them both at the last moment.
• Nick is dangling from a great height while Mary struggles to hold on to his wheelchair, and she almost drops him. Tom saves him at the last moment.
• Nick is thrown from his wheelchair and goes sprawling, knocking himself out.
• A man kicked at a dog, calling it a “mutt”.

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:

• There is a scene where Nick is knocked from his wheelchair and is not breathing, and characters think he is dead. They are shown yelling in clear distress. He then wakes up.
• Tom expresses that he is worried about the responsibility to take care of himself and Mary since their parents died, as he is the eldest. He is shown to be upset and feeling a lot of pressure.

• Nothing further noted.

Product placement

• None noted.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• Two adult characters are shown clearly with crushes on each other, making eye contact and giggling.
• Tom and another female child character are also shown with crushes on each other, and both Mary and Nick tease Tom about it.
• A man dips his wife and kisses her enthusiastically.

Nudity and sexual activity

• None noted.

Use of substances

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

• A character is seen drinking from a thermos on several occasions, and mentions that it “looks like I picked the wrong day to quit drinking”, before his wife reveals he is referring to coffee.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• There is a lot of potty-style humour in this film, such as, where characters are shown clutching their stomachs and passing gas after eating green berries, before running off to presumably relieve themselves.
• Damn
• Little brat
• Moron.

In a nutshell

Buffalo Kids is a heartwarming film about found-family and acceptance. It attempts to flip the traditional cowboys and Native American genre by addressing harmful stereotypes, and is a fantastic portrayal of real-life accessibility and disability representation. This film would be well suited for families with slightly older children wanting a fast-paced, modern portrayal of a Wild West adventure. Due to heavy themes, violence and scary scenes, this film is not suitable for children under 8 years. Additionally, parental guidance is recommended to 11 due to themes of racial discrimination and ableism that parents may want to discuss with their children. These themes could also be discussed with older children.

The main messages from this movie are that no matter how hard things get, teamwork and love will prevail; and that it is important to accept others as they are.

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

• Acceptance
• Love
• Teamwork
• Positive sibling relationships
• Family is what you make it
• Keeping a positive outlook.

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

• During the film, the Native Americans are unfairly blamed for many violent acts, and thus several of the white characters have a negative bias toward them. Parents may want to discuss with their children the ongoing impact of colonisation and racial discrimination toward Indigenous peoples.
• Mary and Tom unfairly assume that the Native American people cannot speak English and are going to hurt them. How can we avoid thinking about people from a different culture to us in a negative way? What do you think they could have done instead?
• Nick is disabled, and many of the other characters in the film assume that he is ‘useless’ and unable to do anything. How was he able to prove them wrong, and how were Mary and Tom able to help him feel included? Parents may want to discuss with their children the impact of ableism, and that you shouldn’t treat people differently no matter what they look like.
• In one of the final scenes, as the Native Americans are being beaten by the bandits, the US Cavalry comes in and saves the day. Parents may want to be aware of the negative colonial connotations here, particularly regarding the idea of ‘white saviours’ for Indigenous people.