---
title: "Son of Rambow"
year: 2007
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/son-of-rambow"
fi1m_id: "son-of-rambow"
imdb_id: "tt0845046"
tmdb_id: 13258
wikidata_id: "Q708831"
fi1m_score: 72
critics_score: 65
critics_reviews: 13
published: "2026-10-10T11:57:55.343624+00:00"
updated: "2026-10-10T11:57:55.901605+00:00"
region: "PE"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Son of Rambow (2007)

Directed by Garth Jennings · 1h 35m · Comedy

## Identity

Son of Rambow

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/son-of-rambow
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** son-of-rambow
- **IMDb ID:** tt0845046
- **TMDB ID:** 13258
- **Wikidata ID:** Q708831
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0845046/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/13258, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q708831

**Fi1m score: 72** · Critics 65 from 13 reviews

*In a sentence:* A boy forbidden television watches *First Blood* once and is ready to be thrown out of a tree for it

> Garth Jennings’s comedy about two boys remaking *First Blood* with a camcorder is funny, fond and well acted, and its first hour gets childhood right. It then reaches for a bigger plot than it needs, and the sentiment arrives on schedule.

## Synopsis

The 1980s. Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner) is being raised in a Brethren household by his mother Mary (Jessica Hynes), under the eye of Joshua (Neil Dudgeon): no television, no films, no pop music, and a Bible whose margins Will fills with drawings. At school he meets Lee Carter (Will Poulter), the resident troublemaker, who owns a camcorder. Lee shows Will *First Blood*, the first film Will has ever seen, and signs him up as the stuntman in his home-made sequel. Then a French exchange student, Didier Revol (Jules Sitruk), arrives at the school and the whole year wants to be near him.

## Review

Garth Jennings’s film is a small one and better for it. Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner) has grown up in a Brethren household in the 1980s, which means no television, no films and no music that is not sung in church. Lee Carter (Will Poulter) is the boy who gets sent out of every lesson. He shows Will [*First Blood*](https://film.one/film/first-blood) and signs him up as the stuntman in a home-made sequel. The film that follows is funny and warm and well acted, and for an hour it gets childhood right. Then it reaches for more plot than it can carry.

The first hour belongs to the two boys. Milner plays Will as a child with too much in his head and nowhere to put it; he draws in the margins of his Bible and on the walls of his bedroom, and Jennings animates the drawings so they climb off the page and start fights with each other. Poulter plays Lee as a bully who has worked out that bullying is quicker than asking, and lets us see, a scene at a time, how lonely the house he goes home to is. Lee gives orders and Will carries them out, and neither of them notices for a long while that this is the first friend either has had.

The scene where Will watches *First Blood* moved us more than a scene of a boy watching a video has any right to. Jennings keeps the camera on Milner rather than on the screen, and Milner does nothing but watch, mouth slightly open, as a man with a knife runs through a forest. Everything the film has to say about imagination is in that face, and it says it without a line of dialogue. We were not expecting to be got at twenty minutes into a comedy about a camcorder.

The stunts made us laugh out loud, which is rarer than it should be. Will is launched from a rope swing into a lake, tipped out of a tree and dragged through undergrowth, and Milner plays every landing as a boy who has been told pain is a sin and has just discovered it is also fun. Jess Hall shoots the Proudfoot house in dim brown rooms and the woods in strong, bright summer colour, so that going out to make the film looks like a jailbreak. Joel Collins gives Lee’s house the clutter of a boy left to himself and Harriet Cawley puts Will in grey knitwear and Lee in army surplus. Dominic Leung cuts the boys’ footage into the film at exactly the length a joke needs, and Joby Talbot’s score bounces along underneath without insisting on anything.

The trouble begins with Didier Revol (Jules Sitruk), a French exchange student with a quiff and a pout who arrives at the school and is worshipped on sight. His coming turns a two-hander into a film about popularity, and the second half spends most of its energy on who is in whose gang. Jennings has written himself a subplot he does not need, and it costs the boys the screen time that was the point. At the same time the Brethren story, with Joshua (Neil Dudgeon) hovering over Mary (Jessica Hynes), is given less room than it earns. Dudgeon plays Joshua softly, as a man who believes himself kind, and Hynes gets one scene that matters and plays it beautifully; both deserved more.

The last half hour takes a turn we will not describe. We can say that we saw it coming from some distance and that it still worked on us a little, and that the credit for this belongs to Milner and Poulter rather than to the writing, which reaches for its lessons in the places you would expect to find them.

It runs 95 minutes and carries a 12A. Watch it with a child of about ten, if you have one to hand, or with whoever you were at that age. Then go and find out what happened to the two boys, because the film’s best argument is their faces.

*Fi1m score 72, published 10 October 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics come away fond of Son of Rambow, and the fondness gathers around the two boys. Bill Milner and Will Poulter are praised repeatedly for unforced, unselfconscious performances, and the slow growth of their friendship is what the warmer reviews hold onto. The scenes of the pair shooting their homemade Rambo sequel, cardboard effects and all, draw the most consistent delight, and several reviews enjoy the 1980s detail as affectionate rather than fussy.

The reservations are about the storytelling. Several critics find the film loses its grip midway, that the later plot turns arrive in a rush, and that the sentiment becomes routine where it had been sincere. The spread is wide. The Hollywood Reporter calls the film poorly made and incoherent, the Los Angeles Times finds it stylish but shallow and never curious about the Rambo idea at its centre, and Digital Spy says tonal clashes waste a strong premise. Even those dissenters concede the boys’ filmmaking scenes are funny.

## Straight answers

**Is Son of Rambow worth watching?**

*Son of Rambow* is worth watching for anyone who wants a funny, warm comedy about two boys and a camcorder, and we scored it 72. Bill Milner and Will Poulter carry it, and the first hour gets childhood right. The second half takes on more plot than it needs, and the sentiment arrives on schedule, so expect a good evening rather than a great one.

**How long is Son of Rambow, and what is it rated?**

*Son of Rambow* runs 1h 35m. It is a comedy film.

**Where can I watch Son of Rambow in Peru?**

*Son of Rambow* is not on any streaming or rental service in Peru at the moment. It is available in 16 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily.

**How violent or frightening is Son of Rambow, and is it suitable for children?**

*Son of Rambow* carries a 12A and its violence is slapstick: a boy launched from a rope swing into a lake, tipped out of a tree and dragged through undergrowth, all played for laughs. The boys watch *First Blood*, but the camera stays on their faces rather than the screen. We would happily watch it with a child of about ten.

**How does Son of Rambow compare to Be Kind Rewind?**

*Son of Rambow* is the better film of the two, because it keeps its remake inside a story about two real children, where [*Be Kind Rewind*](https://film.one/film/be-kind-rewind) is a string of lovely home-made parodies with a plot that barely holds together. Gondry's film has the same joy and less discipline. Choose *Son of Rambow* for a story, *Be Kind Rewind* for the tinfoil.

**What should I watch after Son of Rambow?**

After *Son of Rambow*, try [*Be Kind Rewind*](https://film.one/film/be-kind-rewind) (2008, Fi1m 65): Grown men remake the video shop’s stock by hand; the same joy, less discipline. Then [*Hunt for the Wilderpeople*](https://film.one/film/hunt-for-the-wilderpeople) (2016, Fi1m 82): A New Zealand boy and a grumpy man in the bush; dry, quick and kind.

### Reviews we read (13)

- **Screen Daily**, Mike Goodridge (90/100, inferred): Goodridge gives the film a strongly positive verdict, praising its nostalgic portrait of the 1980s and celebration of children’s creativity. He especially singles out the delightfully un-self-conscious performances by Bill Milner and Will Poulter. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/son-of-rambow/4030435.article)
- **Empire**, Dan Jolin (80/100, inferred): Jolin finds the film deeply effective and surprisingly touching, despite a lapse in storytelling discipline midway through. He especially praises the naturalistic performances and the gradually unfolding friendship between the boys. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/son-rambow-review/)
- **Radio Times**, Stella Papamichael (4/5): Papamichael gives the film a warm, positive review. She praises Bill Milner’s charming performance as a shy boy drawn into making a Rambo-inspired home movie. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-dwbgb4/son-of-rambow/)
- **The Guardian**, Mark Kermode (80/100, inferred): Kermode finds the film a joyful, winning grown-up kids’ movie. He praises the innocent energy of the young leads and their homemade special effects. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/aug/03/dvdreviews1)
- **Total Film**, Total Film (4/5): The critic finds the film imperfect but irresistibly charming, heartfelt and consistently engaging. They praise its naturalistic period detail and the way its imaginative flights are grounded in friendship and emotion. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/son-of-rambow-review/)
- **IndieWire**, Michael Koresky (68/100, inferred): Koresky finds the film playful and charming, though overly polished and uneven in its period details. He especially praises the boys’ performances and the emotionally effective closing moment. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/review-lets-go-to-the-videotape-garth-jenningss-son-of-rambow-72495/)
- **Slant Magazine**, Nick Schager (2.5/4): Schager finds the film charming and emotionally sincere at first, but says routine sentimentality weakens it. He praises the leads’ guileless dynamic and the joy and inventiveness of their homemade movie. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/son-of-rambow/)
- **Variety**, Robert Koehler (60/100, inferred): Koehler finds the film a modestly eccentric, sweetly raucous entertainment whose late plot turns feel rushed. He praises the engaging performances of Bill Milner and Will Poulter, which preserve the film’s early charm. [Read](https://variety.com/2007/film/markets-festivals/son-of-rambow-1200510870/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Carina Chocano (35/100, inferred): Chocano finds the film stylish and sweetly nostalgic, but ultimately lacking in depth or momentum. She praises its visual style while faulting its failure to explore the ideas behind its Rambo inspiration. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-may-02-et-son2-story.html)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Duane Byrge (20/100, inferred): Byrge finds the film poorly made and incoherent, despite ingredients that might attract children. He acknowledges some hilarious slapstick but faults the story for lacking a clear goal and cohesion. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/son-rambow-159361/)
- **Eye for Film**, Amber Wilkinson (85/100, inferred): The critic finds this a delightful, emotionally resonant comedy, likely to be a box-office success. She singles out the script’s humor and emotional weight for praise. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/son-of-rambow-film-review-by-amber-wilkinson)
- **Paste**, Robert Davis (75/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a rewarding, warm-hearted story about friendship. They praise how Jennings uses the boys’ homemade Rambo sequel as a springboard for their adventures and camaraderie. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/son-of-rambow/son-of-rambow)
- **Digital Spy**, Ben Rawson-Jones (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the film uneven and says its tonal clashes squander a strong premise. The children’s guerrilla filmmaking scenes earn praise for their humor and imaginative energy. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a92668/son-of-rambow/)

## Details

- **Director:** Garth Jennings
- **Director:** Garth Jennings
- **Screenplay:** Garth Jennings
- **Cinematography:** Jess Hall
- **Editor:** Dominic Leung
- **Music:** Joby Talbot
- **Production design:** Joel Collins
- **Costume design:** Harriet Cawley
- **Producer:** Trevor Evans, Nick Goldsmith
- **Cast:** Bill Milner as Will Proudfoot; Will Poulter as Lee Carter; Jessica Hynes as Mary Proudfoot; Jules Sitruk as Didier Revol; Neil Dudgeon as Joshua; Ed Westwick as Lawrence Carter; Anna Wing as Grandma; Tallulah Evans as Jess Proudfoot
- **Runtime:** 1h 35m
- **First release (Australia):** 22 January 2007
- **Genres:** Comedy
- **Budget:** $5 million
- **Box office:** $11 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMsRJE9UM3M

## Where to watch in Peru

Not streaming, renting or buying in Peru at the last check.

Also available in: AU, BE, CA, CZ, DE, ES, FR, GB, HU, IN, IT, MX, NL, PL, RO, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *Be Kind Rewind* (2008), Fi1m 65: Grown men remake the video shop’s stock by hand; the same joy, less discipline. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/be-kind-rewind.md)
- *Gregory's Girl* (1981): Scottish schooldays shot with the same fondness and even less interest in plot.
- *My Life as a Dog* (1985): A Swedish boy parked with relatives; funnier and sadder than it first looks.
- *Sing Street* (2016): Dublin teenagers form a band to impress a girl; the songs are the stunts.
- *Hunt for the Wilderpeople* (2016), Fi1m 82: A New Zealand boy and a grumpy man in the bush; dry, quick and kind. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/hunt-for-the-wilderpeople.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/son-of-rambow