Not suitable under 8; parental guidance to 10 (violence and scary scenes)
This topic contains:
Children under 8 | Not suitable due to violence and scary scenes. |
Children aged 8–10 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence and scary scenes. |
Children over the age of 10 | 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: | Railway Children Return, The |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild themes and violence |
Length: | 99 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Set in 1944, five years into World War II, children are being evacuated from large cities to rural areas for their protection. Lily (Beau Gadsdon), Pattie (Eden Hamilton) and Ted Watts (Zac Cudby) are three siblings who are tearfully sent by their mother from Salford/Manchester to Oakford/Yorkshire, by train, along with many other children. The siblings are met at the station by the local head-teacher, Annie (Sheridan Smith), and her mother, Bobbie (Jenny Agutter), where they are marched to the local hall. Lily, Pattie and Ted end up staying with Bobbie, Annie and her son Thomas (Austin Haynes), as none of the villagers are willing to take in three children.
Lily is quite strong-headed, rebellious and free-spirited and quickly takes to roaming the countryside with Thomas and her two siblings. It is on one of these outings that they find a young, black, American soldier hiding in a train carriage. Abe (KJ Aikens) is badly injured and manages to convince Lily to help him by bringing necessary medical treatment. The children think it is a bit of a game, conspiring to hide Abe, not realising that he is in fact a deserter from the Army. Abe has fled the Army after being beaten by the American Military Police for fraternising with the local townspeople. When Lily discovers the truth, she is angry at first but then decides to help Abe get home to America. Unfortunately, their plans go awry when they are spotted by the local town gossip.
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.
War; Racism; Separation from parents; Death of a parent.
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.
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:
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:
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 use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
The Railway Children Return is a family drama set against the backdrop of World War II. The film raises some important subjects, such as racism and displacement by war, and, as such, is a good basis for parents to discuss these matters with their children. There is violence in this movie, which is done in a way that it is not too graphic but relevant to the story. Nevertheless, due to the subject matter involved, this film is not suitable for children under 8 and parental guidance is recommended for children aged 8-10.
The main messages from this movie are that the world is not a bad place, it just goes through bad times; and that the colour of your skin should make no difference to how you are treated.
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
Children and Media Australia (CMA) is a registered business name of the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM).
CMA provides reviews, research and advocacy to help children thrive in a digital world.
ACCM is national, not-for-profit and reliant on community support. You can help.
ABN: 16 005 214 531