Family Switch

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Short takes

Not suitable under 8; parental guidance to 12 (violence, sexual innuendo)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Family Switch
  • a review of Family Switch completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 20 August 2024.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 8 Not suitable due to themes, violence and sexual innuendo and crude humour.
Children aged 8–12 Parental guidance recommended due to violence and sexual innuendo.
Children aged 13 and over Ok for this age group.

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.

Name of movie: Family Switch
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild crude humour, violence
Length: 105 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Jess Walker (Jennifer Garner) and Bill Walker (Ed Helms) are parents trying to keep their family close as their kids, Wyatt (Brady Noon) and CC (Emma Myers), grow more independent and distant. The night before a day full of crucial moments in each of their lives (Bill’s chance at a record deal, Jess’s big promotion, Wyatt’s college interview, and CC’s soccer tryout), the family experience an unexpected twist. A strange encounter with an astrological reader, sees the family wake up to find themselves in each other's bodies. Now, with their lives literally switched, the Walkers must work together to navigate their swapped identities and make it through the most important day of their lives – discovering new understandings and appreciation for one another along the way.

Themesinfo

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; Sexual innuendo; Family angst; Sacrificing dreams; Magic.

Use of violenceinfo

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:

  • Wyatt is pushed to the ground by bullies.
  • Bill, in Wyatt’s body, head-butts a bully who is about to punch him.
  • Traffic scenes feature reckless driving where car doors are smashed off the sides by different vehicles.
  • The entire family falls off a stargazing podium, crashing to the ground and breaking a telescope.
  • Wyatt is yelled at by bullies.
  • A man is kneed in the groin by a woman.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

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:

  • Some children may be frightened or confused by the concept of people switching bodies and becoming someone else.

Aged five to eightinfo

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:

  • Bullying scenes where Wyatt is knocked down, mocked and yelled at.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

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.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • Tillamook Ice-Cream seen multiple times as Jess’ ‘guilty pleasure’.
  • Topo Chico Water.
  • Voss Water.
  • Pokemon Cards.
  • Pepto Bismal (bus scene with Jess).
  • Olipop Soda cans in teen party scene.
  • Nike soccer ball, shoes and bag for soccer scenes with CC.
  • Microsoft tablets in all office scenes.
  • Lyft app and Lyft scooters.
  • Apple iPads, iPhones and iMacs in office and home scenes.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

  • Mean kid points to Wyatt and says, "dude this guy’s tryna’ creep", as his ‘crush’ walks by in the hallway.
  • A school mum, Carrie, talking to Jess says: “I tried that thing with my husband you suggested from college”, and makes slapping and sexual hand motions in the background.

Nudity and sexual activity

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

  • Jess and Bill have to force a kiss in a certain point in the movie as they have been switched as their kids.
  • Jess and Bill share a kiss before bed at the start of the film.
  • Wyatt and Ariana share a kiss toward the end of the film.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

  • A teen party takes place where teens are seen drinking from red plastic cups, however, it is not specified what they are drinking.
  • After the body switch happens CC, now in Jess’ body, tries wine for the first time and then spits it out.
  • A group of mums at a “Girls Night” are drinking wine.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • The use of “damn” and “hell” are used frequently by multiple characters
  • Pee
  • Sexy mother
  • Dork
  • Nerd
  • Geek
  • Hag
  • Loser
  • NB: a dog repeatedly pees on a Christmas tree
  • Dog sits on a baby potty
  • CC, in Jess’ body, belches loudly and repeatedly farts during an important presentation.

In a nutshell

Family Switch is a heart-warming comedic film. Empathy, unity and self-discovery play a major role and the use of humour and resilience shows how the characters learn valuable lessons about each other, and about identity, communication and the importance of staying connected as they each grow and change. Due to mild crude humour and violence, the film is best suited for families with children aged 13 and above, with parental guidance for ages 8 to 12.

The main messages from this movie are the importance of being responsible and respectful; understanding and valuing that everybody deals with different emotions and difficulties in their lives; being understanding and connected to your family members even if it seems hard; that bullying is not okay and that feeling awkward in certain situations can help you to understand where and who you want to be.

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

  • Empathy
  • Communication
  • Unity
  • Resilience
  • Responsibility
  • Friendship
  • Family
  • Kindness
  • Teamwork
  • Family appreciation.

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

  • The consequences of bullying.
  • Respect and safety.
  • The implications of drinking and partying.
  • Pressures surrounding romance and sexual innuendo.