Not suitable under 15; parental guidance to 15 (themes, sexual references, language)
This topic contains:
Children under 15 | Not suitable due to themes, sexual references and coarse language. |
Children aged 15 | Parental guidance recommended due to themes, sexual references and coarse language. |
Children aged 16 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: | History Boys, The |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Moderate themes, Sexual references, Moderate coarse Language |
Length: | 112 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Based on the play by Alan Bennet and predominately supported by its original cast, The History Boys follows the path of eight high-school graduates who have all elected to do an extra term at school to improve their chances of getting into Oxford or Cambridge Universities. The Headmaster (Clive Merrison) is thrilled with the boys’ prospects and enlists the help of Irwin (Stephen Campbell Moore) a mysterious young teacher in the hopes of further improving their chances.
The boys are also guided by their devoted history teacher Dorothy Lintott (Frances de la Tour) and their creative general studies teacher Hector (Richard Griffiths) who has a disturbing tendency to fondle his students, something which they seem to regard with amusement.
As the boys prepare for their entrance exams they are encouraged to “think outside the box” and look for obscure and unusual perspectives. In the process Dakin (Dominic Cooper) and David Postner (Samuel Barnett) begin to look more closely at themselves and question their sexuality.
It takes a tragic turn of events for the boys to recognise some of the lessons that they had been taught and to realize how those lessons would impact not only their choices, but the rest of their lives
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.
Homosexuality, teacher/pupil relationships
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.
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.
There are some sexual references in this movie, including:
There is some 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:
The History Boys is a drama that contains many characteristics of a theatrical production. It will be favoured by fans of the original play and by mature audiences.
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
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