Moon Rock for Monday

image for Moon Rock for Monday

Short takes

Not suitable under 12; parental guidance to 15 (themes, violence, drug use, scary scenes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Moon Rock for Monday
  • a review of Moon Rock for Monday completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 27 April 2021.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 12 Not suitable due to themes, violence, drug use and scary scenes.
Children aged 12–15 Parental guidance recommended due to themes, violence and drug use.
Children over the age of 15 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: Moon Rock for Monday
Classification: M
Consumer advice lines: Mature themes, violence, drug use
Length: 96 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Pre-teen Monday (Ashlyn-Louden Gamble) suffers from a terminal illness that will likely take her life before she is 16. She takes medication that makes her feel sick and is home-schooled by her father Bob (Aaron Jeffery) but dreams of going to see the Moon Rock (Uluru) in the hopes that legends of its healing powers are true and that she will be well again. While chasing her pet rabbit onto a train, Monday meets Tyler (George Pullar) a troubled teen who has just robbed a jewellery store and accidentally killed a cop. Desperate to get out of town he decides to head to the Northern Territory and says that he will take Monday to see the Moon Rock on the way. As the two set off on their road trip, a nationwide man hunt is launched by a police force more intent on revenge than justice. While Monday and Tyler share adventures, overcome obstacles and form an unbreakable friendship, Bob follows his own leads and sets off across the country in search of his daughter.

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 of a pet; Death of parents; Separation from a parent; Missing a child; Living with terminal illness; Troubled teens; Police corruption; Doing the wrong thing for a good reason; The fear of being replaced.

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:

  • Tyler holds a gun and, looking at himself in a bathroom mirror, psyches himself up to get ready to use it. As he leaves the restroom, people in the shopping area run to the sides after seeing the gun in his hands.
  • Tyler shoots at and accidentally kills a police officer. Another officer calls him a dead man.
  • Monday’s dad threatens a teenage friend of Tyler’s, throwing things around as he searches for information about his missing daughter.
  • Tyler tells Monday that if he gets hungry, he will eat her rabbit.
  • Monday’s dad smashes the phone in a phone booth in an act of frustration.
  • A truck driver attacks Tyler in a bathroom. They punch and wrestle each other all over the floor while Monday watches in horror.
  • Tyler attacks a man after he is accused of taking his cigarettes. He then steals the man’s van.
  • Tyler roughly forces his way into a pharmacy to get medication for Monday, scaring the girl who is opening up.
  • Police officers shoot Tyler in the shoulder. As he runs away, they continue to fire at him, shooting him repeatedly.

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:

  • Monday’s dad falls asleep at the wheel while searching for his daughter and crashes his car. He suffers only minor injuries.
  • Children in this age group are also likely to be upset by some of the scenes mentioned below.

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:

  • Tyler suffers repeated flashbacks of the car accident that killed his mother and his last moments with her as a young boy while she lay bloodied and dying.
  • Monday’s dad is very distraught when he learns that his daughter is not only missing but that she is with someone who just committed murder.

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:

  • When a truck driver tracks Tyler and Monday down at a bus station, they try to hide from him in a bathroom. The scene is tense while they are pursued and when they are found Tyler is viciously assaulted. Monday is terrified but in the end she screams at the man and he leaves having stolen the last of their cash.
  • Tyler proves to be very kind and compassionate toward Monday and they become good friends but just as they return to Coober Pedy the Police catch up to them and shoot Tyler without hesitation. Tyler tries to run away but they continue to shoot him while Monday chases him, trying to help. Eventually he collapses on the ground with blood spurting from his mouth while Monday sobs and begs him not to die. In a final act, very much like that of his own mother, he takes the ring that he stole and presses it into her hand. The shots are all shown and the scene is very emotional. It is likely that many children would be distressed the depicted events.

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 of concern.

Product placement

  • None noted.

Sexual references

  • None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

  • None noted.

Use of substances

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

  • Monday must take strong medicine for her condition that may prolong her life but that also makes her feel very sick in the process.
  • A teenage boy appears a bit out of it and Tyler mentions that he has been ‘sniffing’. Tyler tries to help him get access to medication or pain relief for a physical disability.
  • The man who picks up Monday’s dad admits that he is a little “baked” and asks him to drive instead. As he heads to the back seat, he offers Bob a joint. When they are stopped by police a short while later the owner of the car looks panicked and asks for the bag that is in his glove compartment. He quickly stuffs, what appears to be marijuana, into his mouth just as quickly as he possibly can.
  • A random man that picks up Tyler and Monday is drinking beer while he is driving. He asks Tyler if he would also like a beer, which Tyler accepts. He later appears to be drunk.
  • The same man also asks Tyler to pass him his ‘ciggies’ and later accuses him of taking the cigarettes.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • “Shit!” is heard on a number of occasions throughout the film.

In a nutshell

Moon Rock for Monday is an on-the-run style drama with believable performances by the two lead characters. The starkness of the landscapes they encounter appears, in some ways, to be a reflection of the emotional turbulence of their lives and yet hope is woven throughout. Due to the overall themes and content this film is best suited to mature audiences.

The main messages from this movie are to live in the present moment and to go after your dreams no matter what they are or where they may lead you.

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

  • Compassion
  • Adventure
  • Determination
  • Understanding
  • Redemption.

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

  • Going off with people you don’t know and not telling anyone where you are.
  • Talking to strangers.
  • Hitchhiking.
  • Drug use.
  • Using violence to solve problems.
  • Stealing.
  • Replacing a pet instead of going through a grieving process.
  • Allowing yourself to be intimidated by authority or taking the easy route even when you know that something isn’t right.