SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS (2017)
A charming island adventure for older children and adults.
Should You Watch It?
SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS is a charming, entertaining adventure with a beautiful English countryside setting. The Walker children show love for one another, honesty after wrongdoing, bravery in danger, trust, and respect for each other’s roles. The story also offers many second chances and shows a troubled family growing closer.
The film’s imagination is part of its appeal. Real and surreal dangers overlap, placing make-believe and reality on equal footing. Children may enjoy that more readily than adults, but two scenes involve extreme peril that will not feel imaginary to young viewers. The story also mentions “Destiny” and never turns to God when a child’s life is in danger or after the ordeal.
If your family includes older children who can handle intense peril, WORTH THE TRIP — OLDER CHILDREN AND ADULTS.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESIn 1929 England, the Walker children and their mother travel by train to a lakeside resort for the summer. The children ask permission to sail to a nearby island by themselves, where their love of pirates soon turns ordinary play into a larger adventure.
Calling themselves the Swallows after their boat, they meet another group of young sailors, the Amazons. Rivalry, survival skills, mysterious adults, and imagined bandits await them on the island.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means this is a good, appealing adventure with some clear limitations. The English countryside provides a beautiful setting, and the children’s explorations remain intriguing and entertaining. Their sibling relationships feel respectful, relatable, and realistic, even when they bicker.
The real and surreal overlap gives the film a childlike quality that may delight children more than adults. The espionage story adds excitement and brings a troubled family closer together, though it does not come from Arthur Ransome’s original book. Overall, it is a charming and fun movie that stops short of being exceptional.
The Worldview
The film presents Christian values without presenting Christianity itself. Love between family members, honesty, bravery, trust, charity, and second chances all matter in the story. Children confess wrongdoing, siblings cherish one another, and people sometimes change after receiving mercy.
The spiritual picture is less reassuring. When a child is in danger, no one calls upon God, and no one references God after the ordeal. The film includes a few mentions of “Destiny,” leaving viewers to discuss whether events are governed by fate rather than God’s providence. Its moral vision is therefore strong in several human relationships but incomplete in its understanding of the One who gives courage, mercy, and hope.
The story’s emphasis on family love and forgiveness connects with Scripture’s call: “Let all that you do be done in love” (1 Corinthians 16:14).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
A strong moral worldview, with a few references to “Destiny,” plus a superstitious action leads to a desired effect and very brief, a fortune teller poster hangs in the background of one scene, implied question of male homosexuality and a trick is played against sexual stereotypes; one profane euphemism, a threatening sign declares danger of death, a few statements by imaginative children imply death; mostly light and brief strong violence includes children and teenagers involved in physical danger (intense in one scene), man jumps from a moving train, a pocketknife opened/wielded a few times in defense or as a threat, a gun pointed toward others, gun held threateningly before a teenager, a flare gun used like a weapon by teenagers toward children, bow and arrow used by and against children, a man struck unconscious after being held at gunpoint, and child nearly drowns; no sex; no nudity; smoking one cigarette and an older Englishman smokes a tobacco pipe; and, a mysterious and slightly cruel man has intentions that are difficult to place through much of the movie, small implications promoting vegetarianism, moral relativism when children disobey elders and steal property (with “good intentions”), brief image of animal skulls hang near scary sign, a dimly-lit body bag shown with reference to killing, gross and dead small animals depicted, a live snake hisses near a person, and secrets kept from authority figures.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The Walker children confess after damaging someone’s property. Why does honesty matter even when the original mistake was accidental?
Proverbs 12:22 · Ephesians 4:25The siblings respect each other’s roles but still bicker. What helps a family disagree without losing love?
Ephesians 4:2–3 · Colossians 3:13–14The film mentions “Destiny” but never points the characters toward God. How is trusting God different from believing events are controlled by fate?
Proverbs 3:5–6 · Romans 8:28The story includes several second chances. When should forgiveness be offered, and what can genuine change look like?
Luke 17:3–4 · Ephesians 4:32The Final Word
SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS offers beautiful scenery, imaginative adventure, strong family affection, and meaningful second chances. Its extreme peril and incomplete spiritual outlook call for parental discernment with younger children. For older children and adults, WORTH THE TRIP — OLDER CHILDREN AND ADULTS.
