Not suitable under 8; parental guidance to 10 (themes, name calling, animated violence)
This topic contains:
Children under 8 | Not suitable due to themes, name calling and animated violence. |
Children aged 8–10 | Parental guidance recommended due to themes, name calling and animated violence. |
Children over the age of 10 | 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: | Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2021) |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild themes |
Length: | 56 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Greg (voice of Brady Noon) and Rowley (voice of Ethan William Childress) have been best friends forever but with the boys about to embark upon middle school, everything is set to change. Terrified by the stories he has heard from his older brother Roderick (voice of Hunter Dillon) and determined to do great things, Greg’s attitude towards his friend begins to change based on his perceptions of what he thinks will be cool to others. Rowley stays the same, however, after a freak accident, finds himself the ‘cool kid’. Trying to gain his own recognition, Greg’s plans repeatedly backfire and he finds himself reduced to hanging out with Fregley (voice of Christian Convery), the weirdest kid in school - and just when his closest friendship seems to be lost forever, the simple act of helping a friend turns everything around.
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.
Bullying; Sibling rivalry; Fickle friendships; Peer pressure and middle school-based popularity issues.
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:
Teenagers threaten Greg and Rowley and make Rowley eat a piece of rancid cheese that has been on the ground for ages.
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
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.
The following products are displayed or used in this movie:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2021) is an animated film based on the book by Jeff Kinney. The film’s simple animations and basic plot will be best enjoyed by pre-teens but due to the violence and themes this is not a film for younger children.
The main messages from this movie are that you just need one good friend but that you also need to be a good friend.
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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ABN: 16 005 214 531