Uproar

image for Uproar

Short takes

Not suitable under 10; parental guidance to 12 (violence, coarse language)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Uproar
  • a review of Uproar completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 30 November 2023.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 10 Not suitable due to violence and coarse language.
Children aged 10–12 Parental guidance recommended due to violence and coarse language.
Children aged 13 and over 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: Uproar
Classification: M
Consumer advice lines: Coarse language
Length: 110 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Set in 1984, against a backdrop of social unrest due to the imminent tour by the Springboks, Uproar tells the story of Josh Waaka (Julian Dennison), a 17-year-old Maori boy who lives with his English mother Shirley (Minnie Driver) and older brother Jamie (James Rolleston). He attends St Gilbert’s School on a scholarship, provided due to his late father’s contribution to the rugby team, where he is constantly harassed and bullied by the other students. Josh’s older brother Jamie had also attended St Gilbert’s where he became the captain of the rugby team, however, due to an injury he wasn’t able to continue. Principal Slane (Mark Mitchinson) begs Jamie to return to coaching, which he accepts on the condition that Josh is allowed into the team. Josh is somewhat alarmed by this as he doesn’t like rugby but his mother persuades Josh to play, against his better judgement, for the sake of his brother.

Josh’s talent lies elsewhere, however, and is discovered by his teacher Mr Madigan (Rhys Darby) who invites Josh to join the drama club. Josh has always been unsure of who he is and who his whanau (family) is. Through acting, he starts to discover his true self. When his best friend Grace (Jada Fa'atui) starts attending an activist group, protesting against the South African’s Apartheid regime, Josh has to learn how to stand up for himself and what he believes in.

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.

Racism; Maori Culture; Rugby; The need to belong; Identity.

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:

  • A lot of rough play on the rugby field.
  • Riots on the streets where clashes occur between protestors and the baton-wielding police. The police take a riot stance and, shown in slow motion, move into the crowd, bashing and hitting the protestors. A man is kicked down brutally and an old woman is pushed to the ground. Police kick protestors on the ground. Injured people are seen with blood on their heads.
  • Josh accidentally drops a set of weights on himself.
  • A student deliberately kicks a ball at Josh.
  • A student punches Josh and calls him a homo.
  • Graffiti is sprayed on a Maori hall, which says, ‘Fuk U Boons’.
  • During a practice of self-defence, a person gets punched in the throat.
  • A house is deliberately targeted and set on fire.

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.

  • Nothing further noted for this age group.

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.

  • Nothing further noted for this age group.

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:

  • Jamie says he plays rugby for his dad – it’s his way of keeping him close to him.
  • An old woman is injured during the riots and is taken to hospital. She’s seen on a ventilator and close to death.

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.

  • Shirley persuades Josh to play rugby for Jamie so that he doesn’t hate his life so much he wants to end it.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • Weet Bix.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

  • The boys study a book called, ‘Foreskin’s Lament’.

Nudity and sexual activity

  • None noted.

Use of substances

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

  • Some men drinking beer out of a bottle.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Arse
  • Shit
  • Crap
  • My God
  • Stuffed up
  • Bloody
  • Bastards
  • Jesus
  • ‘Fuk U Dorklanders’ written in graffiti on a wall.
  • ‘Fuk U Boons’ written in graffiti on a wall.
  • A lot of name calling such as:
    • Dick
    • Psycho
    • Poofter
    • Homo
    • Prick
    • Bitch.

In a nutshell

Uproar is based on a true story about a young Maori man trying to find his own identity. The movie draws parallels between the treatment of South Africa’s black community and the Maori community in New Zealand. It is quite highly charged and well portrayed. Due to the level of violence and coarse language, however, the film is not suitable for children under 10 and parental guidance is recommended for children aged 10 to 12. More suited for teens and adults.

The main messages from this movie are to be true to yourself; and to do what makes you your own person.

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

  • The importance of family
  • Standing up for yourself
  • Courage
  • Finding your identity
  • Belonging to a group.

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

  • The poor treatment of the Maori (and Australian Aboriginal) peoples.
  • Why are people racist against certain ethnic groups?
  • Why would Mr Madigan have been fired for attending an anti-apartheid protest?