Reviews

I watched this with my kids ages 9 and 7 having seen that common sense media recommends for ages 7 and up. Having read the book as a child I thought I knew the story would be fine but the narrative here is very different and includes harrowing scenes from the first world war - dead bodies everywhere in the trenches, a badly wounded soldier who is left to die etc. I can't understand how kids as young as 7 are okay with seeing this. Mine were absolutely distraught and I really regret not reading the other reviews before showing it to them. To be honest it feels like the end of innocence that their eyes have been opened to the horrors of war at such a young age. Another new element, different from the book is that there is a child servant, very badly treated and not allowed to speak to the other children, presumably because she is black as well as a servant. The racism is treated with almost casual acceptance in the story, this being 1914, again very upsetting and needs careful parental talking through.