King of Kings, The

image for King of Kings, The

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Not suitable under 7; parental guidance to 9 (violence, scary scenes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for King of Kings, The
  • a review of King of Kings, The completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 15 April 2025.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 7 Not suitable due to violence and scary scenes.
Children aged 7–9 Parental guidance recommended due to violence and scary scenes.
Children aged 10 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: King of Kings, The
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild supernatural themes and animated violence
Length: 101 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

When Charles Dickens (voice of Kenneth Branagh) is reading his book A Christmas Carol to an audience, he is interrupted by his son Walter (voice of Roman Griffin Davis), who is acting as King Arthur along with family cat Willa. Charles shouts at Walter and sends him home so he can finish his performance without further disturbances. When he arrives home, Charles is convinced by his wife Catherine (voice of Uma Thurman) to tell Walter the story of the mightiest king of all, Jesus Christ (voice of Oscar Isaac).

Through Charles’ storytelling and Walter’s eyes, the film explores many key events of the New Testament, including the Birth of Christ, the journey to Egypt, the Feeding of the 5,000, walking on water, and the resurrection of Lazarus. While exploring the life of Jesus, the film shows the fear and hatred of the Pharisees, and their role in the Crucifixion of Jesus. In the end, Walter realises the love and power of Christ and excitedly leaves to pass on the story of The King of Kings.

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.

Death; Natural disasters; Conflict.

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.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • Walter points his wooden toy sword at Charles after he refers to their cat as Willa (its actual name) instead of as a Knight of the Round Table.
  • King Herod says he will kill/take every child under two in Bethlehem to ensure he captures Jesus. Roman soldiers arrive at the stable to take Jesus, however, God sends down fog which allows his family to escape. This refers to ‘The Massacre of the Innocents’.
  • ‘The Ten Plagues of Egypt’ are depicted, with the blood of lambs shown smeared onto doorposts.
  • A vivid depiction of Jesus’ 40 day fast is shown. Satan creates a tornado and throws stones through the air while trying to tempt Jesus to sin.
  • ‘The exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac’ is depicted. A demon is removed from a man and runs into a herd of swine, who subsequently run off a cliff into water and drown.
  • ‘Jesus and the Woman Caught in Adultery’ is depicted. A woman accused of adultery is brought to Jesus by the Pharisees. They claim she should be stoned for violating one of the ‘10 Commandments’ (Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife). Jesus settles the crowd by stating that whoever is free of sin should cast the first stone. The crowd reflects that they are not free of sin and subsequently leave.
  • Charles is shoved, his hand is stood on, and he is hit by a basket while searching for Willa the cat.
  • ‘The Cleansing of the Temple’ is depicted. As Jesus and his disciples travel to a temple for Passover, Jesus becomes angered at the market set up under the temple. He flips a table and shouts for the market to be disbanded.
  • ‘The Betrayal of Christ’ is depicted. Judas leads the Roman soldiers to Jesus. One of Jesus’ disciples steals a sword and slashes an ear off one of the soldiers.
  • ‘The Crucifixion of Jesus’ is depicted. Jesus is nailed to the cross, though no blood is shown. Additionally, in the film, the Crown of Thorns does not cause Jesus to bleed.

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:

  • The shapeless, abstract form of the angels may frighten young audiences.
  • Soldiers are shown holding spears.
  • King Herod is angry and aggressive, which may scare younger viewers.
  • The Pharisees may scare young audiences due to their intimidating and angry nature, plotting the death of Jesus.

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.

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:

  • Charles shouts at Walter after he interrupts the performance of A Christmas Carol.
  • Large waves crash over a boat holding Walter and the disciples. A disciple (Peter) walks on water towards Jesus, but when his faith falters due to a large wave, he sinks and begins drowning. However, Jesus saves him before he drowns.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

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:

  • Jesus, the disciples, and Walter grapple with Jesus’ prophesised death.

Thirteen and overinfo

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.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

  • None noted.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

  • A woman is accused of adultery.
  • Judas kisses Jesus on the cheek.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • Adam and Eve are depicted nude, however, sexual features are covered by nearby plants.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

  • The Disciples drink wine/the blood of Christ at The Last Supper.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Gosh.

In a nutshell

The King of Kings is an animated film based on The Life of Our Lord by Charles Dickens; a novel he wrote for his children about Jesus. Due to the violence and scary scenes, the movie is best suited to children aged 10 and over, with parental guidance for ages 7 to 9.

The main messages from this movie are biblical. The film emphasises the power of God and the love of Jesus Christ, and asserts that the audience can gain salvation through faith. Additionally, the movie maintains the importance of loving and forgiving family.

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

  • Religion/Christianity
  • Forgiveness
  • Unity
  • Kindness.

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

  • During the 'Cleansing of the Temple', a Pharisee tells a market stand operator to charge more, as the buyers will still pay. Parents may wish to discuss the ethics of exploitation through this scene.