Story

Themes

Adoption; living with cancer; abandonment

Violence

There is some violence in this movie including:

• Sparks roughly shoulders Misty.
• Maps punches Fearless in the face.
• The boys chase Misty and pin him down in the sand, while Spit dangles spit over Misty’s face.
• Maps destroys a picture that Misty had made and framed. Misty then beats Maps with the broken pieces of wood.
• While trying to catch a legendary fish Sparks kills it.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• The boys frequently pore over  playboy-type magazines from the 1960s featuring scantily clad women and comment on what they see.
• The boys encourage one another to peep at different women when they are getting dressed or are in the shower. They tell one another things such as, ‘You can see everything’, or ‘She’s taking it all off’.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

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

• Maps steals a bottle of beer.
• Maps and other characters are often seen smoking throughout the film.
• Lucy and Maps share a bottle of ‘grog’ together.
• Many of the adult characters also drink and smoke.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• The four boys ‘moon’ another orphan (expose their bottoms) and his new parents as they leave the orphanage.
• Lucy comes out of the sea wearing only her knickers, with her breasts completely exposed.
• Lucy wears very short, tight shorts that expose part of her buttocks.
• Lucy sits in a rocking chair in skimpy shorts exposing all of her legs, including her upper thighs and part of her buttock.
• Lucy and Maps share a cigarette together. She sexily blows smoke towards his ear as he breathes heavily.
• Three of the boys watch Lucy get undressed.
• Lucy sings a sexy song to Maps while leaning provocatively over him.
• Misty watches Mrs McAnsh while she showers and gets a full view of her torso, and her deformed chest (presumably a result of her cancer).
• Lucy takes Maps’ hand, places it on her upper thigh and drags it to her crotch. She then tells him to touch her breasts and the scene cuts out with him feeling her chest and her instructing him to take off his pants. When we next see them they are lying in each other’s arms and Lucy asks him to always remember her as his ‘first’.

Product placement

None

Coarse language

This movie contains some mild coarse language.

Ideas to discuss with your children

December Boys is a coming-of-age drama which features beautiful scenery.  Because of its themes, it is best suited to older children and adults.

The main messages from this movie are that there is more than one way to realize a dream and that sometimes what you think you have always wanted may turn out to be something you didn’t realize you’ve always had.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• loyalty
• putting the needs of others first
• courage
• never losing hope or giving up, no matter how impossible something might seem.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss the real-life consequences of early sexual experiences, drinking, smoking and stealing.