Not recommended under 13, Parental guidance to 15 (Themes, Coarse language)
This topic contains:
Children under 13 | Not recommended due to themes and coarse language |
Children aged 13-15 | Parental guidance recommended due to themes and coarse language |
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: | Lou |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Coarse language |
Length: | 80 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Eleven-year-old Lou (Lily Bell-Tindley) lives with her mother Rhia (Emily Barclay) and two younger sisters in rural sugarcane country. Lou’s father walked out on them 10 months previously and for this Lou blames her mother. Lou also resents the fact that she is often left to care for her sisters while her mother works. Life for Lou takes a turn for the worse when Rhia brings home Lou’s estranged grandfather Doyle (John Hurt), who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.
Lou now is often left to care for Doyle as well, a responsibility for which she is much too young and which causes Lou to feel further resentment towards her mother. Doyle, in his unpredictable state, confuses Lou for his former wife Annie and tries to win her affection. Unused to such attention, Lou finds herself drawn to her grandfather and goes along with him as a game. The two become close friends but when Rhia finds out what’s happening she realises she needs to send Doyle away, now much to Lou’s anguish.
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.
Aging and Alzheimer’s disease; dysfunctional families; single parenting. poverty.
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 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.
Children in this age group may also be disturbed by the above-mentioned scenes.
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 in this age group may also be disturbed by the above-mentioned scenes and by a scene where the children are scared by debt collectors knocking on the door and have to hide to pretend there is no-one home.
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.
Children in this age group may be disturbed by some of the situations faced by the characters in this film, including
The following products are displayed or used in this movie:
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:
Lou is a complex drama played on many different levels. Its themes of family breakdown, aging and coming of age tell a sad but touching, story which is aimed at an older audience.
The main message from this movie is that everyone needs to be loved and respected.
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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ABN: 16 005 214 531