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Story

Based on the Nicholas Sparks novel, The Choice is a romantic drama about Travis (Benjamin Walker) and Gabby (Teresa Palmer). Travis is a kind-hearted womaniser from North Carolina, who is immediately infatuated when an attractive medical student, Gabby, moves into the house next door. Travis frequently throws loud and alcohol-driven parties despite Gabby’s protests. This means that Travis and Gabby clash at first and have many arguments.

Eventually, however, Gabby comes to realise that Travis is indeed a very decent man. He’s a vet who loves animals, and Gabby is drawn to him because she has a dog. When Gabby’s current boyfriend leaves town to go to a medical conference, she and Travis become involved in an affair.

In time they marry, but tragedy strikes when a car crash puts Gabby in a coma and Travis has a heart-breaking decision to make.

Themes

Love and relationships; injury, death and switching off a person’s life support; grief and loss

Violence

The Choice has some violence and accidental harm. For example:

  • A character punches a man.
  • A car crash is shown in slow-motion, but there is no blood seen – a woman falls into a coma as a result.

Sexual references

The Choice has some sexual references. For example:

  • There are humorous references to a pregnant dog having had sexual experiences and using ‘protection’.
  • People talk about a male character being a womaniser.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

The Choice shows characters drinking socially.

Nudity and sexual activity

The Choice has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:

  • Some of the female characters wear revealing clothing like short dresses and low-cut tops, and nearby male characters notice their appearance.
  • Two characters kiss passionately. The man pushes things off the top of a table, and gently lays his female partner down on it. Only kissing is shown, but the scene implies that the couple intend to have sex. The two are partially undressed during this scene – the man removes his shirt, and the woman’s shirt is unbuttoned.

Product placement

None of concern

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in The Choice.

Ideas to discuss with your children

The Choice is a touching movie about love, grief and loss. The movie highlights the complex nature of relationships, and the way that relationships can change in unexpected ways. The nature of choices and consequences is also explored as the characters make life-altering decisions that affect not only themselves.

The movie’s themes – particularly the one about switching off a person’s life support – make it quite intense for a PG-rated movie and more suited to older viewers. We therefore don’t recommend it for children under 12 years, and we strongly recommend parental guidance for children aged 12-14 years.

You could talk with your children about:

  • the complex nature of relationships, romantic or otherwise, and the positive and negative ways that different relationships affect people
  • infidelity and the consequences of an affair on the people involved
  • the very difficult decision to turn off a person’s life support and let them die.

Supported By

  • Department of Social Services

Raising Children Network is supported by the Australian Government. Member organisations are the Parenting Research Centre and the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute with The Royal Children’s Hospital Centre for Community Child Health.

Member Organisations

  • Parenting Research Centre
  • The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne
  • Murdoch Children's Research Institute

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