Not recommended under 13; parental guidance recommended 13 to 15 due to themes, violence, sexual references and coarse language
This topic contains:
Children under 13 | Not recommended due to themes, violence, sexual references and coarse language |
Children aged 13-15 | Parental guidance recommended due to themes |
Viewers 15 and over | OK for this age 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: | Fences |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild themes, sexual references and coarse language |
Length: | 139 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington) is a 53-year-old African-American living in Pittsburgh in the 1950’s. He lives with his wife Rose (Viola Davis) and their 17-year-old son Cory (Jovan Adepo). He has an older son Lyons (Russell Hornsby), a musician, from a previous marriage, who often comes to visit on payday. Troy works hard as a garbage collector to make enough money to provide for his family and keep a roof over their heads. His sense of responsibility weighs heavily on him, and it angers him that Lyons doesn’t get a ‘proper’ job and make real money.
Troy works with his neighbour and good friend Bono (Stephen Henderson) and they often stay and have a chat and a drink after work. It’s during these chats that we learn about Troy’s difficult background. He had an abusive father and left home at the age of 14 but later became a successful baseball player for what was then called an “all-negro” team. He has a brother Gabrielle (Mykelti Williamson) who was injured during the war and is now brain-damaged. Troy was sent to jail for 15 years for accidentally killing a man during a robbery and met and married Rose when he came out of jail. By this time, he was too old to continue his baseball career but he has blamed his ineligibility on his colour and this seems to have had a long lasting influence on his outlook to life.
One day Troy comes home from work with a revelation that is so upsetting to Rose that it threatens their relationship and happy life together. Cory refuses to speak to his father again and Troy retaliates by kicking him out of home. Troy and Rose do stay living in the same house but separately, with Rose refusing to let him back into her life.
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.
Racial issues; father/son relationships; infidelity
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:
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.
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:
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:
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.
Some children in this age group could also be disturbed by some of the above-mentioned scenes.
Nothing of concern
There are some sexual references in this movie, including:
Nothing of concern
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
Fences is a movie remake of a 1980’s play by August Wilson. It is still very much a stage play transferred to screen but the high standard of acting, particularly by the main characters, carries it off. The story is quite intense and the themes, violence, sexual references and coarse language make more suitable for teens and adults. It is not recommended for viewers under 13 and parental guidance is strongly recommended for 13 to 15 year olds.
The main messages from this movie are that we all need to somehow live with others,’ and our own, imperfections and that success comes through hard work.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:
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
Children and Media Australia (CMA) is a registered business name of the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM).
CMA provides reviews, research and advocacy to help children thrive in a digital world.
ACCM is national, not-for-profit and reliant on community support. You can help.
ABN: 16 005 214 531