Sand Castle Parents Guide (2024)

FAQs

Why is Sand Castle rated MA? ›

Blood is shown. Multiple scenes of graphic war violence with gunshot wounds and accompanying blood spurts.

But, if you are interested in a film that successfully portrays the life's of all people affected by war, even if the story line does not center on the most brutal and violent ways, this is a film worth watching.

As the movie concludes, Ocre's commanding officer and command sergeant major decide that he has now obtained enough war stories to interest Hollywood, and so they put him on a plane back to the States. That last bit about being sent back to make a movie is not actually what happens in Sand Castle, but it might well be.

The movie is based on the true events and the experience of the film's writer Chris Roessner during the Iraq War.

SEX/NUDITY 1 - One kiss and a man hugs a woman from behind and nuzzles her neck and face. VIOLENCE/GORE 2 - Two men pull down an iron gate with a chain and a tow truck. We hear glass break, then see a shattered windshield. Some verbal threats and one instance of threatening with guns.

Violence & Scariness. Little on-screen violence, but most of the crimes on the show involve violence -- including murder -- and the crime scenes sometimes feature brief shots of corpses.

This story is focused on a young, fairly introspective young man who had joined the Army Reserves to pay for college before any thought of war or 9/11 was apparent. He was not prepared for the difficulty of deploying to Iraq and the constant danger and loneliness, even intentionally injuring himself to avoid the fight.

The theme of The Sand Castle, according to Hoedeman, is "man versus nature... one can't outdo the other. We have to live side by side and make the best of it."

The film centers on Matt Ocre, a young soldier in the United States Army, who is tasked with restoring water to a village in Iraq. It is inspired by Roessner's experience as a soldier in the Iraq War. It was released on April 21, 2017, on Netflix.

It's a true story, and so that has some inherent value, and the young cast is relatively strong, especially a few stand-outs, but we've seen too many similar stories in the decade-and-a-half since 9/11 for this one to register as anything special.

Is Sand Castle still on Netflix? ›

Right now you can watch Sand Castle on Netflix or Netflix basic with Ads.

Will (also referred to as Wil) has been picked up by Netflix and is set to be released globally on January 31st, 2024. Set in Antwerp, Belgium, the new WWII movie tells the story of an auxiliary policeman working during the Nazi occupation.

Language wise: a few strong language heard now/then, but nothing a mature teen couldn't handle. For the sexaul stuff; considerable it is a TV-MA sure, it's is considerable light; there is shown a few sex/oral sex scenes with passionate same gender kissing but that's about it.

Mature Accompanied (MA 15+)

Films and computer games classified MA 15+ are legally restricted to people aged 15 and over. They can contain content such as sex scenes and drug use that may have a strong impact on the viewer.

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