Playing Beatie Bow

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Playing Beatie Bow
• a review of Playing Beatie Bow completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 22 July 2025.

Overall comments and recommendations

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.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

Secretly possessing magical abilities, inherited from her grandmother, little Beatie Bow (Mouche Phillips) can hear children calling her name across the annals of time. She comes from the dangerous streets of Old Sydney Town to watch the games of present-day kids and to see why they call to her but, somehow, she becomes stuck and cannot find her way back. Young Natalie (Phoebe Salter) can see Beatie Bow and wants to help her but no one else believes that she is there, until Natalie’s neighbour Abigail (Imogen Annesley) adds an ancient family heirloom, an old piece of lace, to her dress and suddenly Abigail can see Beatie as well. In her attempt to help the frightened child, Abigail herself is transported a hundred years back in time. She follows Beatie to her home, where she is accidentally injured by Beatie’s deranged father and kept a veritable prisoner by her grandmother (Moya O’Sullivan) and a young woman named Dovey (Nikki Coghill). Both women believe that Abigail has been sent to help them and that she must not leave until she does. Desperate to return home, Abigail escapes from an upstairs bedroom and is subsequently kidnapped and held hostage in a brothel. Before Abigail can be sold, Beatie’s brother Judah Bow (Peter Phelps) and a bunch of his friends come to her rescue. Believing herself in love with Judah, Abigail struggles to come to terms with her feelings, amidst a complicated situation. When a fire threatens to destroy all that she has come to treasure, Abigail risks her life to save others and in so doing sets herself free, in more ways than she could ever have imagined.

Coming of age; Sexual exploitation of women; Loss and Grief; Magic; Time travel; Hardship and Poverty; Family breakdown; Unrequited love; Colonisation; Contemporary society; Finding one’s place in the world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• Shaking of characters when in distress.
• Characters being hit over the head and being knocked unconscious.
• A main character pushes away a guy making sexual advances.
• Mention of killing a dog for food.
• Abigail has repeated visions of a woman standing on a cliff, looking down at the water. Something seems very wrong. It is only later that Abigail learns the woman had been contemplating suicide.
• A teacher slaps Beatie Bow on the head.
• A man is shown with half a leg. He is attempting to place his stump into a wooden prosthesis.
• A man grabs Abigail’s leg as she is walking. She screams and another man quickly puts a sack over her head.
• Abigail knocks into a man and kicks him in the crotch.
• A character grabs Abigail’s head and threatens to boil her.
• Abigail’s faced is pressed against a snake cage and held there as snakes repeatedly strike at her.
• A man is kicked in the crotch and shoved to the ground.
• Another man is slapped with a cane.
• A group of men fight: punching, kicking, throwing, shoving, pushing, kneeing and elbowing each other.
• A character attempts to stab and slash others with a sword.
• A man is shoved into a cupboard and the cupboard is pushed to the ground to seal him inside. He kicks his way out of the back of the cabinet to join in the fighting once more.
• One character is hit over the head with a pottery vase, while another is hit with a heavy mallet.
• Abigail trips a whole bunch of men down the stairs.
• A man falls onto a glass case full of snakes. The case smashes beneath him and the snakes escape causing terror around the room, especially as a snake slithers up the pants of a character who writhes on the ground while a woman screams.
• Beatie Bow tells Abigail that she will “break her head” if she comes between Judah and Dovey.
• A character shouts at invisible Russians, throws a bottle into the fireplace, smashes himself through a shop window and charges down the street with a sword, chopping carrots, cutting through the bagpipes a man is playing, and stabbing bags in a wagon.
• The man with the sword raises it at Beatie and tells her to prepare to be struck down.
• Lamp oil explodes as a fire rages through a business and a home.
• Abigail asks a sick child if he wants to get punched in the head and then threatens him with her fist if he won’t jump out of a window.

Material that may scare or disturb children

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:

• Items moving on their own from the ghosts/apparitions of the past (due to the mystical, time-travelling actions of the movie).
• Throughout the film, haunting images of figures on a hill are accompanied by haunting music.
• When the main character finds herself transported back in time, there is a scene confronting those of the past with screaming and shaking of characters. This may distress or scare young audiences due to the visceral and violent shaking of the characters in the scene.
• Following the ‘game chant’ played by the young children, a haunting child comes in to chase them.
• An apparition-like image of Beatie Bow repeatedly pops up as she watches children play a game that seems to centre on the idea of her (Beatie Bow) having risen from the dead. These scenes are accompanied by eerie, haunting music.
• Some of the characters are really rough-looking, with scraggly hair, grungy or missing teeth and scarred, wrinkled faces that look mean and menacing. One unsavoury character even has boils all over his face.

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:

• Discussions of divorce and family separation may distress a young viewer. This mostly occurs within the first part of the movie but becomes a recurring conversation.
• Most of the movie rides on the haunting setting of the past and how discordant this is with the main character’s perception of her reality coming from the future, the chords and matching haunting imagery may frighten viewers in this age group.
• Abigail’s father abandoned her as a child and she has never forgiven him. She is visibly upset by the thought of her mother seeing him and attempting to make amends.
• Abigail is accosted by a couple of horrible-looking men as she chases after Beatie Bow. She is knocked to the ground by another character and is rendered unconscious. The men, with their sinister faces, getting up close to Abigail as she runs through the darkened streets could be frightening for some children.
• A chicken is taken and placed on a chopping block. The sound of the knife coming down is clearly heard but, at the last second, the image of the chicken having its head lobbed off is blocked from sight by another character.
• Abigail helps rescue a sick child from the attic of a burning building. When she tries to get out herself, everywhere is on fire and she has to go up to the roof. She is running as the building burns and blazes around her. Eventually, she is able to jump to safety but some children may be upset by the intense scenes and the sense of peril.

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:

• There are sexual advances of men throughout the movie (as further described below).
• Abigail is kidnapped by a couple of sinister-looking men, who follow her along the streets (this is accompanied by foreboding, suspenseful music) and take her to a brothel, where she is pawed at by more men (one even trailing his fingers around her breast) and is ultimately to be sold. She is kept chained in an attic, guarded by a woman with tuberculosis who repeatedly coughs into a bloodied handkerchief. Abigail is desperate to escape but despite her best efforts, there doesn’t seem to be any way out. Men are coming for her when Judah and his friends help her escape. The brothel is sinister and creepy and the fact that Abigail is being held against her will, with innuendo of what is to come, may be distressing for some children.
• The youngest son of the Bow family is fascinated by his own death and mortality, constantly making jokes or talking about how they may end up dead or that certain events will be the direct cause of his death. He lost his mother due to illness and, believing himself to be sick, is ready to die.

• Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• Emrik bag is held by the main character.
• Puma shoes are worn by a character on screen, with a direct shot of the shoes.
• A Coca-Cola can is shown in a drawer in 1873. Later, a Coca-Cola commercial is shown on TV.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• A boy makes advances towards Abigail as they are skating. He tells her: “I guarantee you’ll like it. I haven’t had any complaints yet.” When Abigail rejects him, he notes her white dress and asks if it’s significant.
• Abigail recounts how her father had an affair with another woman.
• A creepy man in the street calls Abigail a “pretty thing” and asks where she is off to.
• There are numerous references to “painted ladies” in a brothel.
• A brothel Madame tells Abigail that she is going to make someone, “very happy”.
• A character says to another: “I await your pleasure.”
• A grandmother tells the tale of how her family came to have magic. As the story goes, a lady was taken by the fairies and simply disappeared one day. She returned some months later, pregnant with a child who had the gift of seeing the future and healing.
• Beatie Bow realises that Abigail is “stuck on” Judah.
• Beatie Bow tells Abigail that they “should have left her with the painted ladies”.

Nudity and sexual activity

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

• There are naked paintings in a French club, in the background of the shot, not at the forefront of any scenes and not drawn any attention to.
• Abigail is shown from behind as she sits on her bed sewing her dress. She is only wearing her underwear.
• Numerous female characters are shown in various states of undress while lounging in a brothel. One sits with her leg up in, what could only be assumed is, a provocative manner. Most women are showing a fair amount of cleavage due to the corsets they are forced to wear. At one stage, one woman falls onto a bunch of men, partially exposing her ample bosoms.
• A creepy man in a brothel strokes Abigail’s breast.
• Abigail is forced to wear a flimsy white dress. In an attempt to escape from the roof of the brothel, she nearly falls off and her underwear and upper thighs are briefly shown as she attempts to get her feet back onto something solid.
• While at the beach with Judah, Abigail hitches her skirts up so that one bare leg is exposed all the way up to the thigh. Judah can’t seem to look away.
• Abigail and Judah kiss passionately while lying on the sandy beach. He touches her lips with his hands and he strokes her upper chest and shoulders. He is kissing her neck when Beatie Bow sees what is going on and tries to row away in a boat.
• Judah strips off his shirt to go in the water after Beatie.
• A woman is shown in a little bikini as part of a commercial.
• Abigail comes out of the shower naked (though she is not clearly seen from the neck down) and gives her mum a big hug. Her mum wraps a towel around her.
• Abigail and another character kiss on a beach while in their swimwear.

Use of substances

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

• Cigarettes used by the father in a stressful moment of the film’s climax.
• Cocktails and wine are drunk in the family home in a casual, relaxed, non-peer pressured setting as main characters discuss events of their day.
• Natalie’s mum says: “Natalie is driving me to drink”, as she sips her wine. Abigail drinks what appears to be juice from a wine glass as well.
• Beatie Bow’s father says that, “Not even the bottle is giving me comfort anymore.”

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• Oh for heaven’s sake
• Mercy me
• You evil girl
• Calling someone fat and threats to make a character bald
• Slut
• Bloody hell
• Shut up
• Damn you
• Numbskull
• Cutthroat
• Mongrels
• Shit
• Wretch.

In a nutshell

Playing Beatie Bow is an Australian fantasy film based on the classic story by Ruth Park, famed author of The Muddle-Headed Wombat series. The 80’s cinematography and simple sets may be at odds with what children are used to seeing on screen these days but it lends an air of authenticity to the story. Due to the content, this film is best suited for families with teens and older.

The main messages from this movie are that we all have a purpose and a role to play, and that our futures are tied to the decisions we make and how we choose to act in the present moment but that our destiny is not written in stone; and that love is worth waiting and fighting for.

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

• Determination.
• Courage.
• Helpfulness.
• Compassion.
• Teamwork.
• Forgiveness.
• Recognising the importance of heritage and the effects of colonialism and the long-lasting effect into contemporary society – particularly in Australia.
• Family – connection and propriety: the duty you have as part of a family and community.
• Companionship and romance: how it can transform and incentivise character development.
• Courage and bravery, especially in setting out what you hope to achieve and complete.
• Acknowledging where one comes from, the influence one has on another and how love can conquer and transform all. Appreciating what it means to leave a mark and to inspire those around you through the role of Abigail Kirk and all her relationships: maternal, romantic and platonic.

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

• Family – connection and propriety: Remembering the importance of family and treating each other with kindness and respect by honouring the wishes and instructions of parents, being kind to your siblings and acknowledging the importance of individuality. The consequences of these actions are the driving forces for a lot of the conflict between the family members of the movie.
• Companionship and romance: Exploring romantic relationships in an open, understanding and non-restrictive way but also balancing this with conversations about who is safe to be around and who to be careful of (with reference to the poor sexual advances in the film in comparison to the kind, genuine and friendly blossoming relationship that happens between Abigail and Judah).
• Colonialism and historical significance: Researching and learning with children together to understand history and where you come from, in order to have more respect and appreciation for the present.
• The sexual exploitation of women and girls.