Not recommended under 13, Parental guidance to 15 due to themes and sexual references.
This topic contains:
Children under 13 | Not recommended for children under the age of 13 years due to themes and sexual references. |
Children over the age of 13 | Parental guidance due to themes and sexual references |
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: | Death Defying Acts |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild supernatural themes, Infrequent mild coarse language and sex references |
Length: | 97 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Gillian Armstrong’s ‘Death Defying Acts’ tells the story of a psychic’s brief love encounter with the infamous Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce).
The story is set in the Scottish town of Edinburgh, during the last leg of the great escapologist Houdini’s, 1926 world tour. Mary McGarvie (Catherine Zeta-Jones) is a pseudo-psychic entertainer struggling to make ends meet for herself and her daughter, Benji (Saoirse Ronan), when she hears of a challenge put forth by Harry Houdini. In the hope of contacting his late mother, Houdini offers a monetary reward of $10,000 to the psychic able to make contact with her and prove it by revealing her dying words to her son. With the aid of her daughter, Benji, Mary sets out to con Houdini and claim the cash prize.
Mary’s plan is constrained by the intense attraction that Houdini develops towards her, and what follows is a tangled love affair between the two.
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.
The supernatural; Use of a child for illegal activity
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 eight, 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.
Children in this age group are also likely to be frightened and disturbed by the above mentioned scenes and images and may be particularly frightened by the scenes depicting ghosts and other-worldly images
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.
Children in this age group are also likely to be frightened and disturbed by the above mentioned scenes and images and may be particularly frightened by the scenes depicting ghosts and other-worldly images
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.
Some children of this age may also be disturbed or distressed by some of the scenes throughout the movie, as mentioned above, and require parental guidance and discussion.
None of concern
There are a number of conversations between adults where subtle sexual references are made. These are unlikely to be understood by younger children.
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is infrequent use of mild course language and putdowns throughout this movie, including;
Death Defying Acts is a love story about striving for what you want. Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include determination and independence.
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
Children and Media Australia (CMA) is a registered business name of the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM).
CMA provides reviews, research and advocacy to help children thrive in a digital world.
ACCM is national, not-for-profit and reliant on community support. You can help.
ABN: 16 005 214 531