Parents' Guide to Snowmen

Movie PG 2011 85 minutes
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Common Sense Media Review

Brian Costello By Brian Costello , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 10+

Drama has positive messages; bullying and iffy humor, too.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 10+?

Any Positive Content?

  • Snowmen Trailer

Parent and Kid Reviews

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age 11+

Based on 4 parent reviews

 

 

See all 4 parent reviews
age 9+

Based on 18 kid reviews

Kids say this movie has a mix of positive and negative experiences, with some viewers finding it heartwarming and educational in teaching lessons about kindness and bullying, while others describe it as traumatizing and disturbing, particularly due to some dark themes. Many reviews highlight its bittersweet storytelling, encouraging messages, and the emotional responses it evokes, though the presence of unsettling content is noted by several.

  • emotional responses
  • teaching kindness
  • bullying themes
  • bittersweet story
  • mixed reviews
  • unsettling content
Summarized with AI
 

 

See all 18 kid reviews

What's the Story?

Billy Kirkfield is a 10-year-old boy with terminal cancer. All he wants out of life is to "not die a loser." With his best friends Howard and Lucas, they try to make the best of school but must always face down the wrath of the school bully Jason. Things start to change when Billy and his friends peruse a copy of the Guinness Book of World Records. Inspired, Billy decides to try and break the record for the most number of snowmen made in a single day. He rallies his friends, his school, and even his community. While trying to do this, Billy must learn to stand up to and even empathize with the bully Jason and try to understand that being a good and honest person is much more important than aspiring to fleeting fame.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 4 ):
Kids say ( 18 ):

The acting amongst the kids and adults is better than many low-budget movies like this, and the action manages to remain engaging throughout. The biggest problem with this movie is that it feels stretched out and padded -- after getting the audience interested in whether or not the school will set the record for the most snowmen made in a day, the characters take a detour, and the actions and lessons feel forced. Still, the movie does try to address complex issues in a thoughtful way, in spite of the iffy humor and schoolyard violence.

Within the first six minutes of SNOWMEN, two boys engage in a snowball fight, culminating in one boy tackling the other and holding him down while trying to force snot bubbles onto his face, three boys are nearly suffocated when the snow tunnels they have made are covered by a bulldozer, and this same bulldozer uncovers a recently deceased elderly man who stares these boys directly in the face. Fortunately, the movie levels out a bit after these intense scenes, and what emerges, despite the bullying and gross-out humor, is a better-than-average coming-of-age story unafraid to deal honestly with issues such as childhood cancer, bullying, and empathy.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about bullying. How is the bully portrayed in this movie? How do the main characters see the bully over time? How do the characters use empathy to understand why the bully behaves the way he does?

  • How accurately do you think this movie reflects the reality of a 10-year-old boy with terminal cancer?

  • How does this movie compare with other coming-of-age movies?

Movie Details

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