Not suitable under 7; parental guidance to 11 (violence, scary scenes, themes)
This topic contains:
Children under 7 | Not suitable due to violence, scary scenes and themes. |
Children aged 7–11 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence, scary scenes and themes. |
Children aged 12 and over | 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: | Descendants: The Rise of Red |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild fantasy themes and violence. Some flashing lights sequence, and patterns may affect photosensitive viewers. (OC) |
Length: | 94 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Ben (Mitchell Hope) and Mal (Dove Cameron), newly married, have set sail from Auradon to make alliances with distant kingdoms and have entrusted Uma (China Anne McClain) as the new principal of Auradon Prep. As her first act as principal, Uma extends an invitation to attend Auradon Prep to Princess Red (Kylie Cantrall), the rebellious daughter of the tyrannical Queen of Hearts (Rita Ora), ruler of Wonderland.
To Red’s amazement, her mother accepts the invitation and the two travel to Auradon Prep’s start-of-term ceremony where the duo run into Cinderella (Brandy) and her daughter, Chloe (Malia Baker). To the two younger girls’ surprise, the Queen of Hearts and Cinderella were schoolmates! However, it is revealed that The Queen of Hearts holds a mysterious, bitter, resentment for Cinderella and all their past classmates.
The extent of the Queen of Heart’s bitterness is evident when she reveals soldiers she snuck in during the opening ceremony, and she stages a coup. After being manipulated into sentencing Cinderella to death, Red realises her mistake and activates a time machine she’d stolen from her friend, Maddox Hatter (Leonardo Nam). However, Chloe grabs Red at the last moment and both girls are transported back in time. They soon realise they have ended up decades earlier, back when their mothers were students together at Auradon Prep, known then as Merlin Academy. While they may not know why they were sent back to this exact moment, Chloe and Red must learn to work together if they want to fix the past to save the future of Auradon!
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.
Fantasy; Good vs Bad; Villains; Heroes; Bullying; Unhealthy parent-child relationships; Classism; Loss; Friendship; Celebrating Differences.
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.
There are some sexual references in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
Descendants: The Rise of Red is the 4th instalment in the Descendants franchise, and is a Disney film filled with singing, dancing and both classic and new Disney characters. However, this film does have some darker themes with an emotionally abusive parent withholding love from her child, as well as somewhat conflicting messages about good and bad behaviour. This, alongside some scary scenes, make the film best suited for children over 11, with parental guidance for ages 7 to 11.
The main messages from this movie are that being either good or evil is not as black and white as it seems; that anyone is capable of being good; and that it is important to work together to meet your goals.
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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