Not suitable under 7; parental guidance to 9 (themes, scary scenes, violence)
This topic contains:
Children under 7 | Not suitable due violence, themes and scary scenes. |
Children aged 7–9 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence, themes and scary scenes. |
Children aged 10 and over | 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: | Secret Kingdom, The |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild fantasy themes |
Length: | 98 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Once, there was a wonderful king who ruled the lands above ground as well as the ones below. Sadly, after a terrible accident, his overwhelming grief split the world in two. The world above went on but in the world below, time stood still and darkness spread. It was here that a creature, known as the Shroud (voice of Gabrielle Chan), gained power, striking fear into hearts and turning creatures to stone. The story begins in the world above where Peter (Sam Everingham), plagued by anxiety and crippling fear, is having terrible nightmares and is not happy about moving to a ramshackle house from his father's childhood. His 9-year-old sister, Verity (Alyla Browne), sees the whole thing as a fabulous adventure and, while Peter struggles to see the positives, she imagines countless wonderful possibilities. Verity drags Peter into a shop one day and he encounters a strange object with special markings that he is persuaded to buy. That very evening, Peter's bedroom cracks apart and he and Verity fall down a huge hole, landing deep underground. It is here that Peter learns of the prophecy and that he and Verity have long been expected. Guided and assisted by a pangolin called Pling (voice of Darius Williams), a crafty dragon called Mendax (voice of Matt Drummond) and a two-headed turtle called Ego (voice of Beth Champion) and Ergo (voice of Rowland Holmes), they make their way across the land collecting pieces of a puzzle that will help restore time, bring back light and peace and banish the Shroud forever. Will Peter be able to conquer his fear? Will he succeed in his quest? Will he save his sister and will it even matter?
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.
Grief; Separation from a loved one; Paralysing fear and anxiety; Letting go of trauma.
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 the age of 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.
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.
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
The Secret Kingdom is a fantasy adventure. The plot, while predictable, contains a few twists that you may not see coming. It tackles the concepts of anxiety and grief in an unusual, yet powerful, way and reminds us that everyone gets scared but not everyone chooses to do brave things. The film is best suited to tween audiences.
The main messages from this movie are that we belong to ourselves and not to others; and that grief and tragedy can make time stand still and fill our world with darkness but at the same time we all possess the key to set ourselves free, to conquer our fears and live the lives we have dreamed of.
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 the importance of talking about their fears and anxieties instead of keeping them bottled inside and the importance of finding ways to overcome them.
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
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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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