Drummer Boy

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Drummer Boy
• a review of Drummer Boy completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 10 November 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 at the start of the American Revolution, the story follows two brothers Jeremiah (Joel David Smallbone) and Benjamin (Lucas Leach) Clem. They travelled from England alongside their parents, Lord Balfour (Charles Esten) and his daughter Elizabeth (Beth Easdown), and Emmaline (India Brown), a young girl enslaved by the Balfour family.

After the tragic death of Jeremiah and Benjamin’s father, they arrive in America with hopes of a better life. After Elizabeth catches the eye of Jeremiah, he decides that it is important to win the favour of her father. Benjamin, however, is opposed to the idea, expressing that America is not the place of freedom they were promised. Emmaline was disheartened to hear that Jeremiah was intending to eventually marry Elizabeth, as she has feelings for him and believes him to be a good man who understands the hardships she goes through at the hands of the Balfours.

As the war begins, Jeremiah joins the Redcoats to maintain the family name. Benjamin is horrified by this, and joins the Revolution as their drummer boy. As the brothers fight on opposing sides of the war, they slowly begin to realise that despite fighting on different sides, every person bleeds the same and deserve the same rights and freedoms. As the war unfolds, Jeremiah, Benjamin and Emmaline fight for their freedom through faith and love. Will they be able to find themselves and forgive each other before the bloodshed takes their lives?

War; American Revolution; Historical Fiction; Slavery; Family Separation; Ableism; Death of a Parent; Death; Religion; Faith.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• Throughout the film there are serious themes of death and violence due to the war setting. Many characters are seen being shot or stabbed and killed, and there are several explosions where characters are killed. While many of the scenes are not bloody or gory, the bodies of soldiers are shown lying dead throughout.
• As Emmaline and several others are enslaved, there are several scenes where racism and slavery are the focus. Emmaline experiences serious abuse and mistreatment at the hands of the Balfour family, and all the black characters in the film are treated as inferior because of the setting.
• The Clam brothers’ father is shot and killed in from of them.
• Benjamin, who has a physical disability and must wear a leg brace, experiences people physically threatening him or insinuating that he is incapable of doing anything.
• Benjamin is pushed to the ground and beaten up by several men.
• While Jeremiah is often shown building his brother up, in one scene he loses his temper and insinuates that Benjamin would get people killed if he enlisted in the war because of his leg.
• There are several scenes where characters yell or scream at each other.
• A commanding officer often yells at and berates Jeremiah, sometimes breaking objects to intimidate him.
• Emmaline is berated and slapped in the face by Elizabeth because she has been teaching the other slaves to read, before Elizabeth sends her away to get whipped. While we do not see Emmaline getting whipped on screen, we see her back wounds and scars.
• A character is shot and seriously injured, and we see that he is bleeding from the leg. Benjamin goes to help him and ties a tourniquet around the leg.
• Jeremiah is stabbed, bleeding profusely from the leg.
• Jeremiah is shot in the stomach and almost bleeds out. He passes out and is taken away on a stretcher.
• Lord Balfour uses his rank as Colonel of the Redcoat Force to berate, belittle and intimidate his men into doing what he wants.

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:

• There are many moments throughout the film where there are loud, booming gunshots and explosions that are both jarring and scary.

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:

• A dead deer is shown being carried by some characters.
• Several horses are injured in the conflicts, but none are shown to have died or been seriously hurt.
• The Clem brothers’ mother is shown visibly distressed after Benjamin leaves to enlist in the Revolution, and goes to church to pray for the safety of her children.

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:

• Jeremiah runs to protect Benjamin, jumping in front of a bullet to save him. Benjamin is severely distressed by this and is seen crying and screaming for someone to help his brother.

• There is a scene where Elizabeth states that throughout her life, she had protected Emmaline’s ‘virtue’, insinuating that she had protected her from sexual abuse. This is a real experience for many enslaved women and may be particularly upsetting for sensitive children.
• There is a scene where it is revealed that Emmaline is the biological daughter of Lord Balfour, and Elizabeth states that even though Emmaline is proof of her father’s ‘shame’, she still protected her from getting sold or facing ‘the same fate as her mother’.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• Throughout the film there is a lot of religious iconography, including crosses and bibles.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• Jeremiah and Elizabeth dance together, and he states later that he wishes to marry her.
• Jeremiah and Emmaline dance together, before touching foreheads.
• Emmaline is shown pining after Jeremiah on several occasions, looking at him longingly. Several love letters, with no explicit content, are sent between the two characters.

Nudity and sexual activity

• None noted.

Use of substances

• None noted.

Coarse language

• None noted.

In a nutshell

Drummer Boy is a faith-based film about family, love and fighting for your freedom. While it can be somewhat long and tedious at times, the musical numbers throughout work to keep the audience engaged. This movie is best suitable for families with teenage children, as the violence, war scenes and heavy themes make it unsuitable for children under the age of 14, and parental guidance is recommended to 15.

The main messages from this movie are that it is important to practice forgiveness to find yourself, and that through faith and love you can be the person you want to be.

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

• Family ties
• Relying on your faith
• Love and perseverance
• Bravery
• Self-discovery.

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

• Parents may want to note that while the film attempts to make the reality of war tangible, it does, to an extent, glorify the war and violence. It may be important to discuss with children the real-life implications of war, and how that looks in modern times.
• Throughout, there are many scenes where Emmaline and the other black characters are treated abusively. Specifically, slaves were deliberately kept illiterate to keep them under control, and this is a key point in the film. Parents may want to have conversations with their children on the history of slavery, how it not only impacted people back then, but how it is continuing to impact people today.
• While the film is set around the time of the American Revolution, it is not entirely historically accurate. Parents may want to emphasise that the purpose of this film is for entertainment and is does not reflect real historical events.