A lot of kids are excited about seeing the new movie Hotel For Dogs. However, foster and adoptive parents should be aware that there are major foster care and adoption themes that might upset some children – particularly those who have experienced abuse and neglect, a lack of food, multiple moves and/or sibling separation.

My friend took her daughter and mine to this movie, not having any clue about these themes. I usually look up the plots of movies beforehand, because in the past some themes have triggered grief (and acting out). However, this was a spur-of-the-moment outing. My friend was stunned by some of the content, and debated whether to leave the movie…but how would she explain that to the girls, and would that call even more attention to it? So they stayed and she filled me in on all the details of the movie later, knowing it could trigger emotional reactions in my daughter.

In Hotel For Dogs, Andi and Bruce are foster children who have lived in five foster homes in less than three years. The foster parents are selfish and mean to the kids and they also lock the food up, and serve the kids disgusting looking food. There is a scene where the kids look at a photo of their birth family, missing their parents. Their only hope is their kind social worker, Bernie. He works very hard trying to get them a permanent home in which they can stay together. At one point the kids are briefly separated while Andi goes to one foster home while Bruce goes to a group home. Eventually Bernie and his wife adopt the children. On a positive note, transracial families are highlighted, as the kids are white and Bernie is black.

Interestingly, the movie helped trigger a very good discussion with my daughter last night, but that was after four years of working on healing with her. I will have to wait and see if there are any other ramifications over the coming days. I think if she had seen this movie a couple of years ago it would have upset her and caused her a lot of anxiety. Just something to think about before you take your kids to Hotel For Dogs.