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Walkabout Review

For Families provided by Common Sense Media

Iffy for 16+

Disturbing, arty survival film best for adults, older teens.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this visually-rich drama from 1971 contains some extremely disturbing scenes, including a father shooting at his children and a hanging. Young viewers might be disturbed by the teen girl and young boy's lengthy struggle to survive alone in the Australian outback. Several hunting scenes include animals being killed, gutted, and cooked, with lingering close-ups of carcasses and maggots. The teen girl often appears in her bra, sometimes in her underwear, and a couple times appears topless and nude. These scenes are not explicitly sexual, but some are mildly erotic.

  • Families can talk about survival. What did the teen girl and young boy have to do in order to survive? Were you surprised by anything they did or by how they acted? How did their methods of survival differ from the Aboriginal teen?
  • Talk about cultural differences. How did the film portray the contrast between the urban and nature-based cultures? What message did you get from the film, and was it different from what you think the filmmakers intended?

The good stuff
  • message true2

    Messages: The film's messages are up to interpretation, but seem generally to be a critique of modern culture and discrimination.

  • rolemodels true3

    Role models: The teen girl shows amazing resilience in the face of tragedy and takes good care of her younger brother. The Aboriginal teen helps the siblings through a crisis.

What to watch for
  • violence false4

    Violence: One particularly violent and disturbing scene near the beginning where a father shoots at his two children and then sets his car and himself on fire. One later scene shows a main character hanged. Several gruesome animal deaths.

  • sex false4

    Sex: Full-frontal female nudity in bathing or swimming scenes -- mildly erotic, but non-sexual. Aboriginal teen wears front-piece, but buttocks are exposed. One brief scene of Aboriginal group shows all ages nude, but non-sexual and from a distance. One short scene where men are looking down woman's shirt.

  • drugsalcoholtobacco false1

    Drinking, drugs and smoking: Brief smoking by father and by teen girl after she's an adult.

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