Flash, The

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Not suitable under 13; parental guidance to 15 (violence, themes, language, scary scenes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Flash, The
  • a review of Flash, The completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 20 June 2023.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 13 Not suitable due to violence, themes, language and scary scenes.
Children aged 13–15 Parental guidance recommended due to violence, themes and language.
Children aged 16 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: Flash, The
Classification: M
Consumer advice lines: Science fiction themes, violence, coarse language
Length: 144 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Haunted by the fact that his mother was murdered; that his father was convicted of the crime; and that he was unable to stop either event from taking place, Barry/The Flash (Ezra Miller) has spent a lifetime trying to find a solution. When he discovers he can run faster than time, he returns to that fateful day in order to save his mother. What he doesn’t realise is how many future things are impacted by that single event. In an effort to keep his mum alive and to continue to work for the greater good, Barry must team up with a younger version of himself to ensure that he has his powers and will be able to return to the future. In this alternate timeline, the original Barry realises that they both face a familiar threat and he, along with the younger version of himself, sets out to get Batman/Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton) to join their cause. With Batman on board and an increasing threat set to destroy the world looming over them, the trio head off in search of Superman but find more than they bargained for and, ultimately, Barry must learn the hard truth that not every problem has a solution.

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.

Death of a loved one; How past trauma can shape us; Sacrifice.

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:

  • Cars smash and crash into each other during a high-speed chase.
  • A hospital is collapsing, its foundations crumbling and the building tilting, while people run and scream, dodging debris and the large cracks that are opening on the ground.
  • Lots of property is damaged during a high-speed chase, where villains shoot at Batman, police cars are flipped over and a semi-trailer tips and explodes.
  • Batman is hit by cars.
  • A man is kicked in the face.
  • It is widely believed that Barry’s dad murdered his mum. Barry has spent his life trying to prove that that is not true.
  • Barry’s mother is stabbed in the chest with a large kitchen knife.
  • A character punches Barry out of a time warp.
  • Lightning strikes both Barrys, going through the pair of them. A hole is shown in the back of one Barry before it begins healing itself.
  • Barry knocks himself into a wall.
  • While testing his new skills, Barry runs until his clothes are on fire. He is nearly crushed by a car and a truck as everything erupts around him.
  • A character is hit with a broom and bashed in the face.
  • Barry is shot at, and soldiers shoot at Batman.
  • Batman fights an army: kicking, punching, hitting, throwing things and smashing through windows.
  • A male and female character are both tortured.
  • A character is shot in the leg.
  • There are explosions as an elevator is blasted upwards through a shaft and a girl tossed aside.
  • An army of soldiers shoots at this girl who kicks, throws, and punches them away.
  • An alien army shoots at countless soldiers.
  • A character slits a man’s throat.
  • Barry is electrocuted and it looks like he is on fire and dying.
  • A character punches a missile and it explodes.
  • The Batmobile is shot at.
  • An alien ship and the aliens attack an army: hitting, killing, punching, smashing and exploding wherever they can. A fierce battle rages as events are replayed, trying to change the outcome where a character is killed.
  • A helicopter explodes.
  • Barry is sliced in the face with a knife.
  • A character admits to killing Superman when he was just a baby.
  • A character is repeatedly stabbed in the stomach.
  • Batman deploys bombs against the alien forces and later, bleeding profusely, dies himself.

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:

  • An evil, creepy character, whose face is ghastly and distorted, traps the original Barry in a ball of lightning. This character is extremely destructive and remorseless and stabs the younger Barry through the chest where he dies in the arms of the original Barry. It turns out that the evil character is another version of Barry. The scene is dark and brutal and likely to be both scary and confusing for children.

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:

  • A neonatal nurse is desperately trying to get a door open while a hospital collapses around her. Before she can do so, the building tips and she and all the babies she is caring for are flung out of the broken windows. They are shown in slow motion, falling through the air amidst all sorts of random debris, while The Flash attempts to save them. Some children might be scared for the babies (as well as a therapy dog who is also falling through the debris) as the odds of them all being ok seem slim. The Flash, however, is able to pull off the impossible and everyone is alright in the end.
  • A child watches his father die. The boy is nearly crushed by a car before he is pulled to safety. The scene is brief and occurs amidst lots of other destruction, but it may be distressing for some children.

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:

  • Mercedes
  • iPhone
  • Twinkies
  • Puma shoes
  • Skippy Peanut Butter.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

  • Barry confesses: “I know what sex is but I haven’t experienced it”.
  • Barry comments that the suit he is wearing is: “Tight in my dick”.
  • Comments are made about a piece of technology looking like a “big, cyber scrotum”.

Nudity and sexual activity

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

  • Barry casts off what remains of his clothes (they were on fire) and runs from the street fully naked. He returns to his apartment with his genitals covered but his backside and torso are fully exposed.
  • A female character is shown wearing a bra after getting out of bed with her boyfriend.
  • A male character lounges on a sofa in his underwear, doing some leg stretches that accentuate his crotch.

Use of substances

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

  • Barry walks through a wall to get beers and returns holding two.
  • Characters occasionally drink wine or beer.
  • In a scene after the end credits, Barry is shown helping a very drunk Aquaman out of a bar. Aquaman collapses in a puddle and tells Barry: “More beer. Go fast”.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Shit
  • Mierda (shit in Spanish)
  • Asshole
  • Idiot
  • Dick
  • Fuck
  • Frickin
  • Hell
  • Crap
  • Screw you.

In a nutshell

The Flash is an action adventure, loosely based on the comic Flashpoint and is part of the DC universe. The film features humorous performances, lots of action and special effects. It is not a family film but one that is better suited to older teens and mature audiences.

The main messages from this movie are that sometimes we just have to let things go; that we should not dwell in the past but rather live in the present; and that we should not allow tragedy to define us but rather learn from it and appreciate the events that make us who we are.

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

  • Teamwork
  • Courage
  • Sacrifice
  • Compassion
  • Detachment.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children the importance of not getting stuck in the past, of letting go of the things that you can’t change and looking toward the future.