Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
• a review of Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 23 December 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

In this animated adaptation of Jeff Kinney's 2009 novel, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw, laid-back middle school student Greg (voiced by Aaron D. Harris) finds himself conflicting with his father, Frank (Chris Diamantopoulos), who is worried that Greg lacks basic life skills and discipline. As Greg experiences mishap after mishap, Frank is convinced his son is headed down the wrong path and threatens to send Greg to a military academy. In a desperate attempt to avoid this, Greg persuades his dad to let him prove his responsibility by joining a Scouts club instead, called the ‘Woodchippers’.

However, Greg’s habit of dishonesty and taking shortcuts catches up with him when Frank catches him lying to earn his badges. Frank had truly believed that he and Greg had made a connection, and in a fit of anger enrolled his son in military school. With the Woodchippers camping weekend looming, Greg has one last chance to show his dad that he’s capable of real change. Will he be able to change his ways in time, or is he destined to spend a miserable 4 years at military school?

Father-son relationships; Masculinity; Dishonesty; Family conflict; Crude humour.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• There is significant slapstick-style, comedic violence throughout the film, however, no characters are significantly injured.
• Greg slips on a puddle when getting out of the shower, slipping over and slamming into the wall.
• Throughout the film, Greg berates and verbally bullies the other characters at his school.
• Greg falls backwards when attempting to turn the key into the lock, causing a slapstick-style series of events, where several objects fall and nearly crush him
• Frank drives in a dangerous way, nearly hitting several other cars and causing several neighbours to yell at them.
• Frank yells at Greg on several occasions.
• A man snaps at his wife and they argue briefly.
• Greg stomps hard on his friend’s foot to stop him from talking.
• In a military context, adult men are shown to yell at younger boys.
• A young male character screams in pain, showing a splinter.
• A character has a set of weights fall on him, visibly crushing him and making his eyes bug out.
• Greg causes a series of slapstick-style events in a gym, where several individuals are hit by objects or mildly injured by various pieces of gym equipment.
• A younger boy is physically threatened by an older teenager who gets in his face.
• Frank is visibly angry with Greg, stomping around angrily and slamming items, before enrolling him without his consent into military school.
• Greg is holding on to a lawnmower that goes out of control, causing a series of slapstick-style accidents where Greg is hit by, or runs into, various Christmas decorations and other objects.
• A small dog attacks Greg, biting him on the behind.
• A nest of wasps is shown to sting a character all over their face.

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:

• A loud swell of music is followed by an ominous loud crashing of a pipe organ.
• There are scary-looking snowmen, made to look like creatures with jagged teeth.

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:

• An adult male character tells a scary story about a hand that is coming to attack the children in the night, before pretending that his own hand is choking him to scare the children. This scene is accompanied by a swell of spooky music and a zoomed in, fearful expression.
• Young, kindergarten-age children are shown playing in a construction site, and put in dangerous situations. This is played off in a comical way and no one is injured.
• A racoon is hit with a metal pole, knocking it into a dumpster.
• A dog is nearly run over by a lawnmower, before being nearly impaled on some nails.
• A character crosses a precarious river-crossing before falling in. He is almost washed down a waterfall to his death, but he is saved by several other characters.
• A lawn mower blade comes loose and flies through the air, decapitating a snow sculpture shaped like a deer, and nearly stabbing a dog.

• Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

• The film ‘Home Alone’ is briefly shown on a TV as a character watches it.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• There is a drawing of Greg and another young male character as muscly men, with the label “beefcake”.
• An elderly lady fans herself, exclaiming “Now that’s a beefcake!” in reference to a male character assumed to be a teenager.

Nudity and sexual activity

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

• Greg and another male character are shown in their boxer-shorts, in a non-sexual context.

Use of substances

• None noted.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• Twerp
• Tooted
• Stupid
• Butt
• Greg states that his dad thinks he’s a “screw-up”.

In a nutshell

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw is a funny, slapstick-style animated film based on the Diary of a Wimpy Kid franchise. While this film is suitable for families with slightly older children, parents should be advised that the characters are shown to have generally negative relationships with each other throughout most of the film, with children being rude, dishonest and disrespectful to their parents. Due to animated violence, crude humour and themes, this film is not recommended for children under 7, with parental guidance warranted to 9.

The main messages from this movie are that lying is never the best answer; and that failure is a part of personal growth.

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

• Teamwork
• Never giving up
• Responsibility
• Family support and connection.

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

• Throughout the film, Greg lies to the people around him and treats them as lesser than him. Why is this behaviour not okay? Parents may want to discuss the consequences of Greg’s actions, and how that may look in a real-life situation.
• Greg is shown bullying another character. Parents may want to discuss the impact of bullying, as well as what to do in these situations.
• Frank is very competitive about his children’s achievements, often to the detriment to Greg. Do you think that Frank had good intentions? What do you think Frank could have done differently?
• Frank shows a lack of respect for, or interest in, Greg’s interests. Parents may want to discuss with their children the importance of individuality, and how parents can play a role in shaping their children’s interests.