10 Lives

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for 10 Lives
• a review of 10 Lives completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 4 February 2025.

Overall comments and recommendations

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

Budding scientist Rose (voice of Sophie Okonedo) is working on a research project to help save bees. Abandoned by her boyfriend Larry (voice of Dylan Llewellyn) and pressured by her mentor Professor Craven (voice of Bill Nighy) to complete the impossible, Rose has no time for anything else, certainly not the abandoned kitten that she later names Beckett (voice of Mo Gilligan). Despite her reservations and the initial challenges, Rose and Beckett soon develop a powerful love for each other. When Larry returns and begins to worm his way into Rose’s good graces, Beckett is not impressed and goes to great lengths to try to sabotage Larry and drive him away. Unfortunately, one of Beckett’s attempts to thwart Larry winds up costing Beckett his life. Arriving in animal heaven, Beckett learns that he has used up all of his nine lives. Begging for one more chance to return to help Rose, Beckett is offered another series of lives, only these ones come with a twist. Finding himself repeatedly reincarnated into a variety of different creatures, Beckett navigates his physical limitations and learns that his purpose in going back is not just about being reunited with Rose. His purpose is about helping Rose accomplish something worthwhile, about protecting her from those who would sabotage everything she has worked for, and it is about helping her find happiness even if he is not there to share it.

Reincarnation; Revenge; Sabotage; Annihilation of a species; Jealousy; Death of a pet or animal.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• Beckett, in horse form, smashes through a door and destroys a science lab while biting a man on the butt and throwing him out of a window.
• An abandoned kitten is nearly run over by a car. The kitten knocks its head into the front bumper a few times and tries to look seriously injured.
• Rose explains to Beckett that bees only sting as a last resort. She mimes slicing her throat, indicating that the bees die.
• Beckett attacks Larry, attaching himself to his face and clawing at his nose. Larry sneezes on Beckett, covering his face in gooey snot.
• Beckett walks on Larry’s crotch, causing him pain.
• In an act of vengeance, Beckett sits in Larry’s pizza, stepping through the cheese, and he hops off with a piece of pepperoni stuck to his butt.
• Beckett punches a rat in the face, causing him to go flying through the air.
• Professor Craven tries to crush a bee with a huge book.
• Beckett is crushed and killed by Larry’s car when his plan for revenge goes terribly wrong.
• Rose wakes to find a badger in her bed. She hits it repeatedly and chases it from her house.
• Beckett, in the form of a badger, flies into an electric fence while trying to attack Larry. He is repeatedly electrocuted and a tuft of his fur is on fire.
• Beckett is unkind to a rat and makes him cry.
• Beckett, in rat form, is carried off by a bird.
• A cat door slaps Beckett in the face.
• Rose steps on Beckett while he is in the form of a cockroach.
• Beckett, still in the form of a cockroach, gets into the Larry’s pants and makes Larry dance around slapping himself as Beckett scurries up and down his body, out of his ear, into his mouth and onto his tongue.
• Rose hits Larry in the nose with a phone.
• Beckett, in the form of a cockroach, gets placed in a shredder and is sliced into tiny pieces.
• Beckett, while in the form of a parrot, is crushed by a cat-scratching pole that falls on him.
• Beckett, in the form of a dog, slaps another dog.
• Two guys say that they will smash Rose’s lab to smithereens.
• Rose slaps Larry.
• Beckett, in the form of a dog, bites a man on the shoulder. Two men knock their heads together and the car they are driving careens out of control and slams into rocks near a cliff. Beckett is thrown from the car, off the cliff and into the ocean, where he dies once again.
• Beckett, in the form of a fish, falls into Professor Craven’s mouth and almost chokes him. Professor Craven is controlling robotic bees at the time. The hand he is using to control the bees catches on fire. The bees turn red and fall to the floor.
• Beckett, in the form of a horse, throws Professor Craven onto a table, knocks him to the floor and slams his head with a wooden beam as he tries to crawl away. Beckett also destroys Rose’s lab in the process.
• Rose shoves Beckett roughly away when she sees the damage he has caused to her laboratory.
• Professor Craven shoves two henchmen into a wall, knocks their heads together and kicks them in the legs.
• Beckett, in the form of a bee, stings a man who is grabbing Larry.
• Larry punches one guy while another grabs him and then sprays poison into a box of bees.
• Beckett, back in the form of a cat, claws a man in the face and grabs another person by the neck.
• Larry knocks a man’s tooth out with a metal canister.
• A swarm of robotic bees try to attack Rose. They have red glowing eyes and swarm, en masse, specifically targeting her.
• A clown is shoved to the ground and his balloons are all popped.
• Numerous bees sting Professor Craven in the buttocks.
• Rose is pursued by the bees until she falls over the side of a jetty. The bees follow her into the water, still trying to attack. They go out with little zaps of electricity.

Material that may scare or disturb children

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

• Beckett is repeatedly reincarnated and often quickly killed.
• Professor Craven has a swarm of scary-looking robotic bees that can easily attack and kill. They have glowing red or green eyes and can move in a swarm-like fashion, targeting their victims.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

• Rose is devastated when Beckett disappears. She doesn’t know that he was crushed when Larry’s car fell on him and Beckett wants nothing more than to get back to Rose and help her. He is repeatedly killed in the various forms he adopts, often in very brutal ways. Seeing Beckett repeatedly die may be distressing to some children, even if no blood or gore is shown.
• Children could also be distressed for Beckett, when he tries everything he can think of to return to Rose and to show her that he loves her but she is unable to see him for who he truly is.
• Beckett sacrifices his life to save Rose when she is attacked by a swarm of robotic bees and knocked off a jetty into the deep water below. He uses his last bit of air to push Rose up to safety and loses consciousness before he can get himself out of the water. He is shown drifting down into the dark depths as Rose sobs on the Jetty.

• Nothing further noted.

Product placement

• None noted.

Sexual references

• None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

• Rose and Larry kiss.
• Professor Craven describes how, when he was a child, his bare bottom was used as a bullseye by bees.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

• A couple of characters describe their dream of opening a club called ‘Pets and Pints’. A picture of the pair is clearly displayed, showing them in a bar serving beer and surrounded by animals.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• Nitwit
• Idiot
• Chubbers
• Hell
• Dickie numb bum.
• Frickin
• Heck
• Stupid
• Nincompoop
• Nasty piece of poop
• Homewrecker
• Useless great lumps of meat
• Crap
• Toots.

Examples of crude humour include:

• A dog that says he likes dirty underpants and drinking water from the potty.
• A dog, closely following Beckett (in the form of a dog), slams his nose up into Beckett’s butt when Beckett suddenly stops. He extricates his nose from Beckett’s buttocks with a pop.
• A dog talks about smelling butts.

In a nutshell

10 Lives is an animated adventure featuring a unique, fast-paced plot and bright, colourful characters. At first glance, the film seems suitable for most age groups but, due to the themes and repeated animal deaths, it is best suited for audiences over the age of 8.

The main messages from this movie are that it doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside, it is what’s inside that matters most; and that ‘if you live and love with all your heart, one life is all you need.’

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

• Love
• Loyalty
• Devotion
• Persistence
• Compassion.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

• Allowing your judgement to be clouded by jealousy.
• Treating others unkindly.
• Trying to sabotage the work of (or relationships with) others.
• Being reckless and behaving in a dangerous manner.