Drummer Boy: is it suitable for your child?

Story

Set at the start of the American Revolution, the story follows brothers Jeremiah (Joel David Smallbone) and Benjamin (Lucas Leach) Clem. They travel to America from England with their parents, Lord Balfour (Charles Esten), his daughter Elizabeth (Beth Easdown), and Emmaline (India Brown), a young girl enslaved by the Balfour family.

After the tragic death of Jeremiah and Benjamin’s father, the travellers arrive in America with hopes of a better life. Jeremiah becomes romantically interested in Elizabeth and decides that he needs to win the favour of her father. Benjamin is opposed to the idea, saying that America isn’t the place of freedom they were promised. Emmaline has feelings for Jeremiah, so she’s disheartened to hear that Jeremiah intends to marry Elizabeth. Emmaline believes Jeremiah to be a good man who understands the hardships she experiences at the hands of the Balfours.

As the war begins, Jeremiah joins the Redcoats. Benjamin is horrified by this and joins the Revolution as a drummer boy. As the brothers fight on opposing sides of the war, they slowly begin to realise that despite fighting on different sides, every person bleeds the same and deserve the same rights and freedoms.

As the war unfolds, Jeremiah, Benjamin and Emmaline fight for freedom through faith and love. Will they be able to find themselves and forgive each other before the bloodshed takes their lives?

Themes

War; American Revolution; historical fiction; slavery; family separation; ableism; death of a parent; death; religion; faith

Violence

Drummer Boy has some violence. For example:

The movie’s war setting means there are scenes showing violence and death. Many characters are shot or stabbed and killed, and there are several explosions that kill people. The scenes aren’t always bloody or gory, but they show soldiers lying dead.
Several scenes featuring Emmaline and others focus on racism and slavery. The Balfour family abuse and mistreat Emmaline, and all the Black characters are treated as inferior.
The Clem brothers’ father is shot and killed in from of them.
Benjamin has a physical disability and wears a leg brace. People physically threaten him or suggest that he’s incapable of doing things.
Several men push Benjamin to the ground and beat him up.
Jeremiah usually supports Bejamin, but in one scene he loses his temper and suggests that Benjamin will get people killed if he enlists in the war.
Several scenes show characters yelling or screaming at each other.
A commanding officer often yells at and berates Jeremiah, sometimes breaking objects to intimidate him.
Elizabeth berates Emmaline and slaps her in the face because Emmaline has been teaching other slaves to read. Elizabeth then sends Emmaline to be whipped. Later we see wounds and scars on Emmaline’s back.
A character is shot and seriously injured. His leg bleeds. Benjamin goes to help him and ties a tourniquet around the leg.
Jeremiah is stabbed, and his leg bleeds profusely.
Jeremiah is shot in the stomach and almost bleeds to the death. He passes out and is taken away on a stretcher.
Lord Balfour uses his rank as Colonel of the Redcoat Force to berate, belittle and intimidate his men into doing what he wants.

Sexual references

Drummer Boy has some sexual references. For example:

Jeremiah and Elizabeth dance together, and he says later that he wishes to marry her.
Jeremiah and Emmaline dance together, before touching foreheads.
Emmaline pines for Jeremiah and looks at him longingly. They send each other love letters.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

There’s no use of substances in Drummer Boy.

Nudity and sexual activity

There’s no nudity or sexual activity in Drummer Boy.

Product placement

Drummer Boy has a lot of religious iconography, including crosses and bibles.

Coarse language

There’s no coarse language in Drummer Boy.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Drummer Boy is a faith-based movie about family, love and the fight for freedom. It’s sometimes long and tedious, but it does have some musical numbers to keep the audience engaged.

Drummer Boy is most suitable for teenage and older viewers. Its violence, war scenes and heavy themes make it unsuitable for children aged under 14 years, and we recommend parental guidance up to 15 years.

The main messages from Drummer Boy are that you can:

find yourself by practising forgiveness
become the person you want to be through faith and love.

Values in Drummer Boy that you could reinforce with your children include family ties, faith, love, perseverance, bravery and self-discovery.

Drummer Boy could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues and questions like the following:

The movie tries to present the reality of war, but it also glorifies war and violence to some extent. What are the real-life consequences of war, and what does war look like in the modern era?
Emmaline and other Black characters are abused. Many are also deliberately kept illiterate as a means of control. What is the history of slavery? How did it affect people in the past, but how does it continue to affect people today?
The movie is set around the time of the American Revolution, but it isn’t always historically accurate. How does the movie’s aim to entertain affect its presentation of historical events?