Boy

What’s it about?

An 11-year-old boy named Boy finds himself face-to-face with his long-absent father – an opportunity to establish a connection with the man he never really knew.

The facts

• Directed by Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok)
• English language
• Runtime: 84 minutes
• Starring James Rolleston and Taika Waititi
• One of the highest-grossing NZ films of all time (Flicks.co.nz)

Why did it get this rating?

This film was rated by the Film and Video Labelling Body.

Drugs

Young kids are seen harvesting cannabis plants. One of them does it as job earning money.

In one scene, a character rolls up and prepares a blunt and smokes it. In the following scenes they are seen continuously smoking it.

Bullying

Boy is bullied at school. There is a brief scene where he is held while another boy spills water onto his shorts around the genital area to make it look like he “wet himself”.

In one scene, the bully makes fun of others in class. He teases one of the students about their looks and has AIDS, and his relationship with Boy. He later teases Boy’s mother, which results in both getting into a fight.

Boy is later grabbed and threatened by the bully’s brother. He threatens that he would “take both of his nuts off”.

Violence

Boy’s father ambushes the kids who bullied his son, waving a machete around and threatening them. This scene is comedic but could be somewhat frightening.

In one scene a character knocks out a rugby player, who immediately falls onto another pile of unconscious rugby players. Shortly after, the character breaks out of prison and throws a metal spoon at a guard. The spoon punctures one of the guard’s eyes. We see blood spilling out from the covered wound. This scene may disturb some viewers.

Sexual themes/references

A character shares how they flirt with girls by annoying them and pretending to be afraid of undies so they can show him their undies.

Boy’s dad gives him bad advice. He tells Boy to not get any girls pregnant but to offer showing his penis to them. In a later scene he offers this to his crush and she leaves grossed out and frustrated. “Tits” and “dick” are mentioned.

Offensive language

Words like “bullsh*t”,“sh*t”, “f**k”, “assh*le” are mentioned.

Further information

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?