Not suitable under 12; parental guidance to 13 (violence, scary scenes and lack of interest for younger viewers)
This topic contains:
Children under 12 | Not suitable due to violence and scary scenes |
Children aged 12-13 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence, scary scenes and possible lack of interest |
Children over the age of 13 | Ok for this age group |
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.
Name of movie: | Ad Astra |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Science fiction themes, violence and coarse language |
Length: | 123 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Set in the near future, a global power surge on Earth causes over 43,000 deaths and the military suspect an extra-terrestrial attack. Astronaut Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) is therefore sent on a mission to find his missing father, Dr Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones). 30 years earlier Clifford McBride had led a team to search for life near Neptune and hadn’t been heard from since. Actually suspecting Clifford might be responsible for the attack, the military want him dead.
Roy’s mission first lands on the Moon where Roy undergoes a psychological examination to see whether he is fit for the task. The decision is made that Roy is too emotionally attached to his father and the authorities plan to send him home. Roy, however, manages to smuggle onto the spacecraft that’s heading for Saturn to find Clifford. In doing so, Roy breaches the oxygen supply and accidentally kills all the crew on board. Roy finally reaches his destination and finds his father. Roy’s intention is to take his father home but things do not turn out as planned.
Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.
Science Fiction; Absent parent; Father/son relationships.
Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.
Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.
There is some violence in this movie including:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
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:
Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.
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:
Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:
Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.
Nothing further noted.
There is some infrequent coarse language in this movie, including:
Ad Astra is a fantasy/science fiction movie set in the near future. Much of the dialogue is muted by the spacesuits and Roy narrates a lot of the story as it goes along. It is very slow moving and doesn’t have much of a plot. The movie mainly centres on the relationship between Roy and his missing father, therefore, it isn’t recommended for under 13’s and the violence and scary scenes render it unsuitable under 12.
The main message from this movie is the need for a strong bond between parent and child.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
Selecting an age will provide a list of movies with content suitable for this age group. Children may also enjoy movies selected via a lower age.
Content is age appropriate for children this age
Some content may not be appropriate for children this age. Parental guidance recommended
Content is not age appropriate for children this age
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