Future Council

image for Future Council

Short takes

Not suitable under 6; parental guidance to 7 (language, themes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Future Council
  • a review of Future Council completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 12 August 2025.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 6 Not suitable due to language and themes.
Children aged 6–7 Parental guidance recommended due to language and themes.
Children aged 8 and over Ok for this age group.

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.

Name of movie: Future Council
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild coarse language
Length: 77 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Director Damon Gameau enlists the help of eight remarkable children (Ruby Rodgers, Skye Neville, Hiva Tuki Grube, Joseph Chudasama-Wijaya, Karla Alberg, Clemence "CC" Currie, Joaquin Minana and Aurvi Jain) from different backgrounds and cultures, who are all working to address environmental issues in various ways. Damon gathers the children in a European forest and they set off in a biofuel bus to visit the heads of corporations who have a lot to improve on, as well as some smaller companies who have begun radical practices to put the best interests of nature at the forefront of their corporate policies. The children are given a voice and a chance to speak directly to these powerful and influential individuals, to ask them questions and confront them with facts that are difficult to face. It is an emotional journey and a difficult one at times but ultimately it proves powerful and encouraging as the children form a ‘Future Council’ where their concerns are taken seriously, and where they are able to contribute valuable and creative ideas which are presented to CEO’s and are, in some cases, put into play. Many of the children go from feeling overwhelmed and helplessness, despite all their efforts to effect positive change, and from feeling isolated and alone to being able to work with thousands of other like-minded individuals from around the world, ensuring that Nature gets a vote and that big corporations remember to take the future into consideration. This remarkable group of young activists is demonstrating that they will not be the victims of companies focussed on profit-driven decision making, but that they will instead be the change makers who bring moral clarity, emotional integrity and creative ingenuity into an arena that has been, for far too long, dominated by insatiable greed.

Themesinfo

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.

Climate change; Endangered animals; Overwhelming powerlessness; Environmental catastrophes; Overconsumption; Corporate indifference and culpability.

Use of violenceinfo

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.

  • None noted.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

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:

  • Damon tells the children a story of an insatiable cloud-like character that is fuelled by human greed. Animals and plants are swept up in its path, and forests are destroyed to feed its constant hunger for more. The creature is shown growing bigger and more destructive as it begins to spread. The accompanying visuals are not exactly scary but they may be unsettling or distressing for some viewers.

Aged five to eightinfo

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.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • Coco-Cola, Pepsi and Nestle are mentioned as the biggest polluters of the planet.
  • The Future Council is able to meet with representatives of both Nestle and the banking corporation ING.
  • The Future Council visits with the founders of Panachland, Decathlon, and Faith in Nature.

Sexual references

  • None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

  • None noted.

Use of substances

  • None noted.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • There is a single use of each of the following words:
    • Shit
    • Sucks
    • Bad ass.

In a nutshell

Future Council is a powerful and encouraging documentary directed by Damon Gameau, director and writer of renowned That Sugar Film and 2040. The film provides powerful insights, beautiful moments and clever solutions to some of the most pressing problems plaguing the world right now. It is best suited to audiences aged 8 and older.

The main messages from this movie are to believe in yourself, to stand up for what is right and to share your knowledge and wisdom with others. It shows that although the world is in a dreadful shape, there is hope for the future and that by working together, powerful changes can be made and we can undo some of the damage that’s been done.

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

  • Courage
  • Responsibility
  • Integrity
  • Empathy
  • Perseverance
  • Creativity.

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

  • The perils of fast fashion and excessive consumerism.
  • Refusing to take responsibility for our actions or choices.
  • Making unethical decisions based around money or greed.
  • Believing that what we do doesn’t matter or won’t make a difference in the big scheme of things, instead of realising that every choice we make has repercussions that effect so much more than just ourselves.