Christian music biopic focuses on overcoming adversity.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Violence & Scariness
very little
One character smacks another during an emotional argument. When going through airport customs and border patrol, the family is briefly taken aside, with the father interviewed separately from the mother and children to ensure that everything is on the up and up; this is depicted as scary.
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Plot revolves around a married couple and their relationship during a difficult time; they demonstrate that love means sticking together when life gets tough. Kiss between married couple.
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Positive messages throughout, some faith-based, including: "Dream big, but don't let your dream be your master," "family are not in the way, they are the way," and "God makes everything beautiful in its time." But the biggest takeaway is that perseverance, teamwork, and faith (in God and/or one another) will get you through. One heads' up: The movie makes it clear who's really behind Santa's gifts at Christmas.
Positive Role Models
a lot
Mother Helen largely takes things in stride when financial difficulties set in and is the glue that keeps the family together. The seven kids in the tight-knit family never fight or argue, and they support their parents in every way, including cleaning houses and doing yard work to pay the rent and put food on the table. Dad David works hard to address the financial situation, humbling himself to clean houses of important people in his industry. Helen and David do argue occasionally, sometimes heatedly. Ultimately, three of the kids grow up to be successful Christian music acts. Church members, particularly one couple, are compassionate, thoughtful, and generous in their assistance and support to helping this large family transition and survive.
Diverse Representations
very little
The Smallbones are a White Australian Christian family who move to Nashville; most of their friends and family are also White and Christian. People of color are depicted positively but in small, one-scene roles, such as a compassionate Black billing administrator and an Asian American obstetrician.
Largely provides "soft skills" lessons about the value of perseverance and teamwork.
Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Unsung Hero is the real-life origin story of Christian musical siblings Rebecca St. James and For King & Country's Joel and Luke Smallbone. It focuses on their family's humble beginnings, especially their parents' struggles during a difficult financial and emotional time. The movie is full of positive messages, many of them faith-based; the biggest takeaway is that perseverance, teamwork, and humility are what gets us through adversity. Some arguments get heated—during one, one spouse slaps another—but there's really no other iffy content to speak of, so the film is appropriate for most ages. That said, it's also a story about the challenges of adulting, so kids—particularly those unfamiliar with St. James and the Smallbones—may not be fully engaged. And one additional warning: Secrets about Santa are made pretty clear. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails.
My daughter started crying because this movie is very deep. It includes serious depression and pregnancy. All of the other people say it’s a great movie but your child might cry multiple times like mine did, this is a very sad movie that you shouldn’t watch. Please.
What a beautiful, hard and complicated at times story about how a family gets through hardships and in the end triumphs together.
My 7yo and 9yo did not like it at all. It was a bit too heavy for them. Lots of hardships that just keep piling on throughout the movie.
Things that my two mentioned were bothered by: you are led to believe for a time that the mother dies after childbirth, mother and father get into verbal fight with mother slapping father, father getting upset and telling daughter she isn’t good enough essentially, father severe depression as he looses his own father. It was just too heavy of a movie for them.
What's the Story?
In UNSUNG HERO, successful Christian music promoter David Smallbone (played by his real-life son, Joel Smallbone, who also co-wrote and co-directed the film) goes broke in the early 1990s after putting all of his family's financial eggs into a basket that seemed like a sure thing: promoting Amy Grant's Australian music tour at the height of the megastar's popularity. Needing a fresh beginning, Smallbone moves his pregnant wife, Helen (Daisy Betts), and six children from Australia to Nashville. Starting over with nothing, Helen positions the family's change in circumstances as an adventure, and—with her as their rock—they all work together to get back on their feet.
In making a heartfelt movie that's a tribute to his own mother, For King & Country musician Joel Smallbone motivates viewers to realize the enormity of what it means to take care of a family. With seven children and a husband in crisis, Helen Smallbone is working overtime and, as perfectly played by Betts, demonstrates total mom goals. Ultimately, Unsung Hero plays more as a biopic than a faith-based film. Yes, the setting is the Christian music industry, and the "characters" are Christian—but things such as the kids' prayer wall for things like "make things cheap" come off more as cute kid stuff than proselytizing. In fact, for a wholly faith-based film, Unsung Hero doesn't feel preachy whatsoever. Still, despite the lack of iffy content, for many kids, this "mom movie" about the power of family may be too adult-focused to keep them entertained.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how the Smallbones family demonstrates perseverance and teamwork to get through their hard times. Why are those important character strengths?
What does David's dad mean when he advises, "Dream big, but don't let dreams be your master"?
What is pride, and when is it positive or negative? How is humility demonstrated in the movie, and why is that an important character trait?
Who is the movie's "unsung hero"? Why?
What does the Smallbones' story teach us about financial risk vs. responsibility?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
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Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By Tara McNamara
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
