Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2024)

Story

Themes

Magic & the supernatural, teenage anxiety & identity crisis, rebellion, bullying

Violence

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix contains frequent fantasy violence which includes the maiming and death of characters and epic battles. Examples include:

• Dudley bullies Harry about nightmares he is having and the death of Harry’s mother.
• Harry physically threatens Dudley by holding his wand underneath Dudley’s chin
• Two Dementors (wraith-like ghosts) attack Harry and Dudley. The Dementors chase and then capture Harry and Dudley, pinning the two boys to the ground. The Dementors then begin to suck the life force from Harry and Dudley. Harry employs a spell to fend off the attacking Dementors but Dudley is left looking pale and dark eyed
• Harry has flashbacks in which he relives the deaths of his parents.
• Harry is told stories of how Voldemort murdered entire families, and how Voldemort would kill his victims by causing them to have terrifying hallucinations until they begged to be killed.
• Draco (school boy) teases Harry about going to prison, Harry responds by charging Draco in an attempt to attack him, but Ron physically restrains Harry preventing him from attacking Draco.
• Dolores Umbridge frequently uses magic to punish and humiliate students and other staff. She also verbally threatens and intimidates the students and Professor Trelawney.
• Dolores Umbridge tortures Harry Potter and fellow students by making them write lines with an enchanted quill that causes whatever the students write to be cut into the flesh on the back of their hand.
• Professor Snape slaps Ron across the back of his head.
• Two school bullies deliberately bump into and shove another boy
• During wizard duelling practice Neville Longbottom employs magic to knock Harry off of his feet, sending Harry flying through the air. Hermione also does the same thing to Ron.
• Harry has a premonition of Ron’s father Arthur Weasley being attacked by an invisible force that leaves him convulsing on the floor with his face and hands smeared with blood. Later Arthur Weasley is seen in a wheel chair with his arm in a sling and cuts on his face.
• Snape uses his mind to probe and invade Harry’s mind (part of training Harry to protect himself from Voldemort), Harry sweats and struggles against Snape
• Harry states that he feels angry all of the time, and worries that he may be turning “bad.”
• Bellatrix Lestrange is seen with both hands chained and manacled to the wall of her prison cell.
• Harry is shown images of his father as a schoolboy at Hogwarts bullying and humiliating Snape.
• During a school exam, Ron’s brothers disrupt the exam by riding their boom sticks around the exam hall exploding fireworks and creating a giant fireworks dragon that terrifies and chases Dolores Umbridge.
• Harry collapses on the ground when he has a premonition of Sirius Black being tortured by Voldemort
• Dolores Umbridge slaps Harry hard across the face in front of his school friends and then threatens to use an illegal and extremely painful curse on Harry to extract information from him.
• Dolores Umbridge uses magic to bind and strangle a centaur with rope.
• At the Ministry of Magic, Harry and his group of friends are attacked by several masked Death Eaters who chase Harry and his friends. Both groups throw numerous lightning bolts and magical spells at each other and a number of Death Eaters are knocked to the ground. Wooden storage shelves collapse with thousands of glass balls smashing to the ground. Eventually Harry and his friends are overpowered and restrained by the Death Eaters, who hold wands to their throats. The faces of Harry and his friends are covered with bloody cuts and scratches and Harry is threatened that his friends will be harmed if he does not hand over a glass prophecy ball.
• Sirius punches Lucius Malfoy in the face knocking him to the ground.
• The final battle at the Ministry of Magic is very violent. The adult wizards fire lightning bolts from their wands and there is huge battle between Voldemort and Dumbledore. Voldemort creates a giant snake of fire and flames that attacks Dumbledore. Dumbledore creates a giant ball of water that engulfs Voldemort. Voldemort uses magic to shatter dozens of panes of glass and then hurls thousands of glass shards at Dumbledore and Harry. Bellatrix Lestrange kills Harry’s godfather Sirius. A distraught and crying Harry chases Bellatrix while Voldemort incites Harry to kill her. After the battle, Harry is left twitching and unconscious on the floor.

Sexual references

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix contains a few mild sexual references. Examples include:

• In one scene, Harry is told that Cho couldn’t take her eyes off him.
• When Harry is asked what it was like to kiss Cho, he says it was ‘wet’.
• When reference is made to Cho’s melancholy mood Ron states, ‘Snogging would cheer her up’.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

• At a family dinner some of the adults have full glasses of beer in front of them, but they are not seen drinking.
• At a Christmas dinner, glasses of wine are on the table, but people are not seen drinking.
• Dolores askes Professor Snape to give Harry a truth potion but Snape refuses. He says that he has run out of the potion becausehe hasused upall of his supplieson Harry in previous attempts.

Nudity and sexual activity

The film contains no nudity but it does have some occasional low-level sexual activity:

• In a couple of scenes Cho looks at Harry with romantic eyes.
• In one scene Harry and Cho engage in a long passionate kiss on the mouth.
• Bellatrix Lestrange is seen as a sensuous witch wearing a black tight fitting dress that exposes a degree of cleavage.

Product placement

None

Coarse language

This movie contains some occasional low-level coarse language, as well as put-downs that are sometimes racist.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a supernatural action movie with spectacular special effects. It is darker and moodier than previous films, focusing on Harry’s struggle with his coming of age and confrontation with his inner demons as well as issues of power and authority. This makes the film more suited to older teenagers and adults.

One of the main messages in the film relates to Harry Potter's self-esteem and values. Harry learns that what is important in life is not what happens to us throughout our life, but the choices we make and how we act on those choices.You might like to discuss this with your child as well as the following values presented in the movie:

• working with others to triumph over adversity
• risking one’s life to protect loved ones
• supporting and standing by your friends.

Youcould also alsotalk about the real-life consequences ofracism and discrimination,stereotyping,school discipline andbullying.