Chief of War

What’s it about?

A thrilling telling of the unification of the Hawaiian Islands in 1795 from an indigenous perspective. A Hawaiian war chief joins a bloody campaign to unite the warring islands to save them from the threat of impending colonization.

The facts

• Directed by Justic Chon
• Starring Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones), Cliff Curtis (Whale Rider), Temuera Morrison (Once Were Warriors), Luciane Buchanan (Sweet Tooth), Te Kohe Tuhaka (The Dead Lands), and Te Ao o Hinepehinga (Shortland Street).
• Ōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian), with English subtitles
• There are nine episodes in the series, 50 min each (on average)
• Features cameo's by numerous All Blacks

Why did it get this rating?

This series was self-rated by AppleTV+. You can find out more about self-rating by streaming providers here.

Violence and cruelty

This show focuses on themes of war and battle, involving gory and graphic combat violence with spears, clubs, and other traditional weapons, such as melee weapons made with human teeth.

Some of the strongest moments of violence include:

• Episodes 1 & 10 contain extended and very graphic battle sequences where countless men and women are killed in brutal ways. People’s heads are shoved into lava, a character’s eye is pierced and stabbed through with a sharp knife, and another has his tongue ripped out and eaten by another, all clearly shown in closeup. Characters are thrown into fires, and we see head’s crushed and torn apart in bloody and brutal ways.
• During a battle scene, a character slaughters and executes multiple men and young boys, cutting open their throats.
• Characters are ordered to kill defenceless farmers taking refuge in a sacred burial ground.
• In one scene, hundreds of civilians are killed by nails shot from cannons, resulting in gory and graphic imagery of shocking wounds on dead bodies.

Content that may disturb

There are scenes where characters are shown their relatives bones and others where they organize their relatives' bones according to ritual. There is also a scene where a Chief desecrates the bones of many of his victims, which some may find shocking.

Detailed depictions of slavery and violent colonisation are shown, which may unsettle some viewers.

Several scenes involve detailed depictions of sacrificial rituals, which some men punching their own teeth out, causing bloody mouths and agony, as well as a man being pushed into a volcano alive, by a chief.

Nudity

Male and female characters are seen wearing traditional Hawaiian attire, such as malo (loincloths) and pā’ū (skirts), where lots of skin and buttocks can be seen, but these portrayals are not sexual.

Sex scenes

There is a non-graphic sex scene where a whole village watches the silhouette of their Chief and his wife as they have sex in a hut during a marriage ritual. We can see their silhouettes as they arrange themselves into a sexual position, however, no moaning, thrusting, or other graphic detail is depicted.

Episode 10 depicts a male chief character amidst a room full of naked men and women, most of which can be seen thrusting and moaning, implying group sex.

In one episode, male characters talk about and attend brothels. We see them paying prostitutes for sex but no sexual detail is shown.

Sexual violence

We briefly see a male pirate pushing a woman into a tent and hear her scream in resistance, implying he is going to rape her.

Offensive language

These episodes contain some mild offensive language, with words like “sh*t” and “damn.”

When content stays with you:

We all have our boundaries, and it’s completely okay if something you’ve watched is weighing on your mind. If certain content lingers with you, consider having a chat with friends or whānau to debrief about what you’ve just seen. But if you’re still feeling affected, please reach out to any of the following helplines for support.

• 1737
• Safe to talk
• Lifeline
• Youthline

Further information

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?
• Brain development – how it works, why it matters