Story
Based on the book by Joyce Maynard, Labor Day is narrated by Henry Wheeler (Tobey Maguire) as an adult. The movie is about the time when Henry was 13 years old and an escaped convict spent a five-day holiday weekend with Henry and his mother, Adele (Kate Winslet).
Adele and 13-year-old Henry (Gattlin Griffith) have been on their own for some years since Henry’s father Gerald (Clark Gregg) left Adele for another woman. Adele has suffered depression since and rarely leaves her home except for a monthly shopping trip.
On one of these trips a badly injured Frank (Josh Brolin) approaches Henry and persuades Adele to give him a lift to their home. Frank has jumped out of a hospital window to escape prison. Adele tends to his wounds and Frank fits right in, cooking, cleaning, mending things around the house and teaching Henry to play baseball. The police are on the lookout for Frank so he has to be careful. In the short time that he is there, Frank and Adele fall in love and plan to escape to Canada, but their plans go sadly awry.
Themes
Dysfunctional families; stepfamilies; loss and grief; depression
Violence
Labor Day has some violence. For example:
Sexual references
Labor Day has some sexual references. For example:
- Henry makes Adele a ‘husband for the day’ voucher book for her birthday. As an adult he talks about the fact that he was too young to understand the full implications of this.
- Adele talks to Henry about sex – how it feels to ‘hunger for human touch’ and feel desire.
- Henry meets Eleanor (Brighid Fleming) who tells Henry she’s been sent to live with her dad because her mum has a new boyfriend and wants her out of the house so that they can have sex. Eleanor tells Henry that sex affects the brain and acts like a drug.
- Gerald’s stepson Richard (Lucas Hedges) tells Henry that people might think he’s gay if he takes up dancing.
- Richard’s mum says that if she were still in school, she’d think that Richard and Henry were both cute. Richard tells her he wouldn’t have been born then and it would be incest anyway.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
Labor Day shows some use of substances. For example, a scene shows some people drinking in a bar.
Nudity and sexual activity
Labor Day shows some nudity and sexual activity. For example:
- A flashback shows Frank and a young woman briefly having sex, but they have their clothes on.
- Henry and Eleanor kiss briefly.
Product placement
The following products are displayed or used in Labor Day: Ritz biscuits; Coppertone; Cheerios; Coke, Fanta and Sprite; and Quik.
Coarse language
None of concern
Ideas to discuss with your children
Labor Day is a melodramatic, romantic movie that shows how vulnerable lonely, single women can be. It is filmed in beautiful locations and this helps to balance the sadness of the story. Despite having a 13-year-old boy as a main character, the themes and disturbing scenes make this movie unsuitable for children. Younger teenagers might also find it disturbing.
The main messages from this movie are about not accepting things on face value but seeking out the truth. The movie is also about the powerful and strong bond between mother and son.
Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include supportiveness, acceptance, selflessness, love and compassion.
Labor Day could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues such as:
- walking out on your family when things get difficult
- allowing a stranger into your car and home
- harbouring a fugitive.