It's been a while since I read the book, so I'm not a good judge of whether the movie went by the book well or not. There are so many dramatic moments, this is a very tense Harry Potter movie. I cried at several points in the movie, and I usually don't cry at movies. I took my oldest child (16yo), but I was glad I didn't take any of my younger children, I think some of the scenes would have just been overwhelming to them on a big screen in a dark and loud theater. I'm not sure if I'll let all of them watch it when it's released on DVD or not, and I let my kids watch a LOT of movies that others wouldn't allow.