Bridge to Terabithia

This is an extremely beautiful movie about two lovely kids. However it does deal with very challenging themes like being an outcast, bullying, dysfunctional family, poverty and ultimately death and bereavement. I would imagine the negative reviews the movie has on this site are due to the fact that of course the unexpected twist in the tale is very challenging and upsetting, when one has identified so much with the characters. Of course it was based on a real incident in the book that happened to the author’s son. One of the problems today is that with modern medicine (thankfully) we are so shielded from unexpected death - and especially the death of children - that something like this is extremely challenging. 100 years ago or so it was quite normal in society. So the film certainly has tragic elements and parent should be warned that they will need to talk it through with their kids afterwards and therefore that’s why I rated it 12 and up. But it seems to me a very worthwhile exercise if your kids are up to it and helping them come to terms with something they may have to face

Kids are not made of glass. Fiction is a safe medium for them to explore, understand, and process concepts like loss, guilt, and grief. Not only that, but this film also explores ideas of tolerance and seeing differing viewpoints and understanding that not everyone you will encounter in life comes from the same places that you have. Of course what age a child will be able to understand and handle some of these things will depend from child to child, but in my opinion rather than deciding outright for yourself you should consider asking your child if they'd be okay with watching something that has sad things in it.