Parents need to know that the violent images in this film about genocide in Rwanda are hard to look at, especially scenes of children's bloody bodies. While the killings depicted in the movie are, famously, conducted primarily by machete, most of these attacks actually occur just outside the frame, though the killers' intent and effects are clear (lots of bloody aftermath). Militia men appear in various states of hysteria, aggression, and drunkenness. In one very sad scene, a father asks the departing UN captain to shoot the refugees left behind so that they won't have to suffer death by machete. Some language, drinking, and smoking, and one character admits her own racism.

Families can talk about the events that the movie was based on. How could you learn more about the slaughter in Rwanda and what took place during and after the genocide? What roles did the United Nations, the United States, and the European Union take? How does this film compare to the 2005 movie Hotel Rwanda? How does what happened in Rwanda compare to more recent events in the Sudan? Are the situations different or similar? What is the media's role in cases like this?