Story

Themes

Fairy tales; magic; the murder of a child; the kidnapping of children; training children as soldiers

Violence

The Huntsman: Winter’s War contains fantasy action violence, violence enacted against children (including the murder of an infant), violence enacted by children against children, and some blood and gore (although very few realistic consequences). For example:

• Freya sees a castle tower on fire and runs towards it. She bursts into a room and finds the smoking charred remains of her baby’s cradle. The child’s father is found next to the cradle and admits to killing the child.
• Freya uses magic to encase a man in ice. We see the ice encase the man’s body, forming an ice statue which shatters into thousands of tiny pieces. She treats several people in this way throughout the film.
• Several brief scenes feature soldiers rampaging through villages burning homes. We see soldiers knocking children to the ground, see a soldier pick up a young boy by the front of his shirt and pin him against a wall and hear the sound of children screaming in the background. One soldier stands over a victim lying on the ground and raises his sword into the air and then brings it down in a brutal stabbing motion. The killing occurs off screen.
• There are scenes of prison wagons crowded with frightened, whimpering young children.
• The Ice Queen cups a young boy’s face in her hands, squeezing his cheeks together in a threatening manner. Frost forms on the boy’s cheeks and her fingers leave burns on his face.
• Several scenes show young children fighting each other in training matches. They use their fists and feet to punch and kick each other. Children are also involved in fights with knives, swords and other weapons.
• A man and woman (huntsmen) are surrounded and attacked by soldiers. The woman is punched in the face and then brutally stabbed in the back with a sword; we see an image of the woman pinned against a blood-soaked sheet of ice. The man is knocked unconscious with a club to the head and his limp body is thrown into a fast flowing river.
• In one scene a woman attacks a group of soldiers. There is a lot of spinning kicks and stylised fighting. She shoots a soldier through the hand with an arrow, stabs another through his shoulder with her sword and then severs a man’s hand from his wrist.
• In one scene, black tendrils ooze out from the Wicked Queen’s body and form spear-like weapons that slash out, impaling a number of soldiers; no blood and gore are depicted. Ravenna also stabs her sister through the shoulder with a spear-like tendril. In return the Ice Queen slashes her sister’s throat and instead of blood, gold pours out of the wound.

Sexual references

The Huntsman: Winter’s War contains some  sexual references. For example:

• There is a reference to a woman carrying another man’s child.
• A dwarf says something unheard to a woman, who promptly pours a mug of ale over his head. We hear the dwarf say ‘I’ll take that as a no.’
• A male dwarf says  female dwarves are ‘horrible’, and that babies are made by accident.
• A woman tells a man that he can take off his shirt and prance around with her.
• A woman refers to a couple being in love, saying that they reek of it.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

The Huntsman: Winter’s War shows some characters drinking alcohol and has references to drinking too much.

Nudity and sexual activity

The Huntsman: Winter’s War has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:

• We see a man and woman naked in a pool of water and they kiss passionately. The woman places a woven necklace around the man’s neck and when he asks her what she is doing she replies ‘Marrying you.’ This is followed by more passionate kissing.
• In several scenes we see women wearing low cut tops that reveal some cleavage and bare backs and shoulders.

Product placement

None of concern

Coarse language

The Huntsman: Winter’s war contains some coarse language and insults.

Ideas to discuss with your children

The Huntsman: Winter’s war is an action fantasy which is likely to appeal to fans of Snow White and the Huntsman. The film is likely to appeal to teenagers and even tweens but has many violent and scary scenes, and confronting themes which include children as soldiers and children being kidnapped and killed. It is definitely not recommended for viewers under 13, with parental guidance recommended for 13 to 15 year olds.

The main message from this movie is that love makes us stronger and can conquer all.

Parents may wish to discuss the way in which the film omits real life consequences resulting from the violent acts depicted in the film. Minimal blood, gore and injuries are depicted. Does this glamorise violence and give viewers a false understanding of the real life consequences of violent acts?