Parent reviews for The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

It is hard to accept that my son's brain craves high stimulus. This movie portrays cultural simple ways of living that I wish my 11 year old could appreciate to what we have. Yet, we were able to talk a little after the movie to cultural and material differences.

This movie portrays the can-do attitude our world needs more of. I love the focus on problem-solving and a growth mindset.

This film is awesome. Set in Malawi, it is about human relationships, government, our dependence on mother nature, sustainability, invention, hardship, perseverance.... and more. We show this to our year 9 (13 year old) students in Social Studies. It is so enjoyable, but also has scenes which keep you on the edge of your seat!

Watched this with my 13 and 15 year old daughters. You can always tell a good film as the phones get put away and the kids focus fully, and there are lots of questions and discussion afterwards. This was a great film. Well acted, particularly by the main character William who was totally believable. You feel the despair and hopelessness for the main characters as bad luck and tragedy strike, and there are some intensely sad scenes, including when William's dog dies, but family and friendships prevail in the end and knowing that it all works out was important, particularly for my younger daughter. Be aware though that many of the themes are quite adult (famine, pillage, starvation, political corruption, teacher having a secret affair with his ex-pupil) and I had to regularly explain to my younger daughter why certain things were going on, so I would not recommend this film to kids younger than 12. The film shows in my view the most realistic portrayal of family life in poverty in a developing country that I have seen in any film, and it totally opened the eyes of my well-educated, city-living chidren as to how different and privileged their life is compared to a child's life in Africa or indeed elsewhere. This is a great film for family movie nights. Highly recommended! And it is on Netflix as well.

Meant to be a PG and depending on your child it could be a PG it could be a 12A. It is a PG apart from some swearing and some violence. There are also some scenes that could be classified as "emotionally intense". So it depends on your child that's why I have gone in the middle but slightly towards the 12A side by saying 10+

Such a unique film. Truly moving and inspiring. Everyone should see this movie. Highly recommend.

Enjoyed watching this with our 11 and 12-year olds. Parents wanted something other than super heroes. Kids wanted something that wasn't too grown up. This was the perfect combination. Some discussion of fear of being beaten or raped. Good for starting conversations about living in a community with religious differences.