Story
Son of Rambow is set in England in the 1980s and tells the story of an unlikely friendship. Will (Bill Milner), whose father died of an aneurism, belongs to a strict Christian sect that forbids contact with outside influences such as television, music and friends outside the sect. In contrast Lee Carter (Will Poulter), who has been abandoned by his mother and father and left with his uncaring older brother, has an existence of excessive freedom.
The two boys find that they have more in common than expected. They join forces to create a home movie worthy of winning the BBC junior-filmmaker contest. Lee is armed with plenty of ambition and a video camera. He accidentally stumbles upon Will’s prolific creative talents and convinces him to screen-test for his movie adventure. Will is easily enticed into Lee’s world of rebellion and freedom. When he accidentally views Lee’s pirated copy of Rambo: First Blood, his imagination goes wild with the creative possibilities.
What follows is a comedic adventure as the boys’ imaginings, drawings and daydreams come to life through the story of Son of Rambow. They start to make a name for themselves at school as movie makers. As popularity descends on them, they find their friendship and movie are put to the test.
Themes
Child neglect, bullying
Violence
This movie includes some violence and accidental harm. There are also stunts that you might be concerned about your children imitating. For example:
Sexual references
None of concern
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
There are several scenes in which children and teenagers drink and smoke.
Nudity and sexual activity
This movie includes some nudity and sexual activity. For example:
- In a school kissing contest, one of the students kisses several female students.
- Two teenagers kiss.
- There is a nude sculpture.
Product placement
The following products are displayed or used in this movie: the Rambo movies.
Coarse language
This movie contains mild to medium-level coarse language, as well as rude gestures.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Son of Rambow is a comedy about friendship and growing up. The main messages from this movie concern the meaning of true friendship – loyalty, trust and forgiveness.
This movie could give you the opportunity to discuss with your children real-life issues such as:
- religion and faith
- being dishonest with your parents
- being involved in illegal activities such as stealing, pirating movies and smoking
- peer pressure and bullying
- involving yourself in dangerous stunts and situations
- creativity and imagination
- child neglect.