Not recommended under 13, parental guidance recommended 13-15 due to violence, and distressing themes and scenes
This topic contains:
Children under 13 | Not recommended due to violence, and distressing themes and scenes |
Children 13 to 15 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence, and distressing themes and scenes |
Viewers 15 and over | OK for this 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: | Darkest Minds |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Science fiction themes and violence |
Length: | 104 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
In a dystopian future, children begin to die of a mysterious neurological disease. However, those that don’t die develop powerful abilities that range from heightened intelligence to mind control. After the government deems these ‘survivors’ a serious threat to others, they are forcibly removed to prison camps, where they are abused by soldiers and forced to work in sweatshops.
When Ruby (Amandla Sternberg), a 16-year-old ‘survivor’ with rare mind control abilities, manages to escape she stumbles upon a group of runaways searching for freedom and safety. Ruby and her new friends, Liam (Harris Dickinson), Zu (Miya Cech), and ‘Chubs’ (Skylan Brooks), locate what appears to be a safe haven for children like them, led by Clancy Gray (Patrick Gibson), the son of the President who started the camps. Being a mind reader like Ruby, Clancy offers to help her understand and control her powers, so she can interact with her friends without fear she will hurt them.
It soon becomes clear, however, that Clancy is the mastermind in charge of the soldiers who are threatening the lives and freedom of the children. With the help of her friends, Ruby must escape from Clancy, and join forces with a group she isn’t sure she can trust, to form a resistance against their common enemy.
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.
Loss of parent/child; separation from a parent; child abuse and maltreatment; murder; teen romance; supernatural powers
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 considerable 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 is some partial 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:
Darkest Minds is an action fantasy based on the first in a series of teenage fiction novels by Alexandra Bracken. It is likely to be entertaining for older teens and young adults, but the many violent scenes and, particularly, distressing scenes of children being threatened and harmed, make it unsuitable for younger viewers. It is therefore not recommended for under 13s and parental guidance is recommended for the 13 to 15 age group.
The main messages from this movie are:
This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss:
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