Fun Size

image for Fun Size

Short takes

Not suitable under 10, PG to 13 (Themes; Sexual references; Coarse languages)

Age
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
classification logo

This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Fun Size
  • a review of Fun Size completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 3 December 2012.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 10 Not recommended due to themes, sexual references and coarse language
Children 10-13 Parental guidance recommended due to themes, sexual references and coarse language
Children 14 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: Fun Size
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild sexual references, crude humour and coarse language
Length: 86 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Fun Size is a teenage comedy drama about Wren (Victoria Justice) a teenager who is grieving the death of her father a year previously.  Wren’s family members are all struggling to manage their grief.  Her mother (Chelsea Handler) is avoiding her feelings by dating a 26 year old and her 8 year old brother, Albert (Jackson Nicholl), has stopped talking and is finding refuge in eating sweets. 

Wren is momentarily distracted from her dysfunctional life when she is invited to a Halloween party by the coolest boy at school, Aaron Riley (Thomas McDonnell).  At the last minute however her mother leaves her responsible for her little brother for the night so her party plans are abandoned.  Wren and her best friend, April (Jane Levy) begrudgingly take Albert trick-or-treating but while they are out on the busy Halloween streets, Wren loses sight of Albert and is unable to find him in the sea of trick-or-treaters.  

In a panic Wren calls upon her geeky friends Roosevelt (Thomas Mann) and Peng (Osric Chau) to help them find Albert.  Meanwhile, Albert has some Halloween adventures of his own as he meets many colourful characters while finding his way home.

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 father and family grief; a child missing and in dangerous situations

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:

  • A man sets fire to the house where Albert is hostage, using fireworks
  • Wren and her friends are chased by two bullies who threaten them.  They chase them through the streets and then corner them in a fast food restaurant where Peng faces off against the bullies and then shoots one of them with his musket gun.  It shoots a piece of chicken and no one is hurt.
  • Albert punches a bully in the groin
  • A man shoves Albert to the ground, and takes his candy.  Albert is then left alone. 
  • When Albert lets off a stink bomb, a man grabs him and takes him inside his house and locks him in.When Wren attempts to save Albert the man forces her to pay money before she can get Albert back.

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:

  • Wren goes through a haunted house on Halloween and is frightened by scary ghouls and a ghostly lady who jump out at her.
  •  Albert goes missing on a busy street and is left alone.  He is approached by a shop assistant who invites him into his car to go on an adventure with him.  He turns out to be friendly but at the time he is a stranger.
  • Albert is almost hit by a speeding car but is saved by a woman at the last minute.
  • Albert spends the whole night by himself meeting random characters.
  • Albert gets into the car of the man who shoved him and is taken to his run down and isolated home. 

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.

Children in this age group may also be disturbed by the above-mentioned scenes

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.

Children in this age group may also be disturbed by Albert’s misadventures, in particular when he is shoved, grabbed and locked away by a man who has drunk a lot of alcohol.

Thirteen and overinfo

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.

Most children in this age group are unlikely to be disturbed by anything in this film

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • Mac
  • Burt’s Bees
  • Toyota
  • Porsche
  • Volvo
  • Converse

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

  • A boy stares at a school girl’s bottom
  • A shop assistant points to a pack of condoms
  • Man talks to Albert, who is 8 years old, about having sex with his girlfriend
  • A gyrating pelvis movement - referring to having sex
  • an oversized chicken falls on a car and moves up and down, giving the impression that it is having sex with the car
  • a man is reading ‘Shades of Grey’

Nudity and sexual activity

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

  • Wren puts on a top with the breasts cut out
  • There is a photo of an elderly woman in sexy lingerie in a seductive pose
  • Wren and Roosevelt are seen kissing a number of times
  • April and Peng wake up on a couch together looking dishevelled.  They kiss passionately.
  • Fuzzy strips down naked and runs down the street to distract the police.  His genital area is blurred out.
  • Wren’s younger brother, Albert, is seen on the toilet naked.  His genital area is not seen.
  • Peng wins a bet to feel April’s breast which he is seen doing for 20 seconds.  April’s bra is seen.

Use of substances

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

  • a reference to Albert ‘mainlining’ his halloween candy
  • a man talks to Albert, who is 8 years old, about smoking
  • a man is seen drinking alcohol while driving with Albert in his car
  • Wren goes to a high school party where most of the partygoers are drinking underage
  • Albert, who is 8 years old, is seen in a nightclub eating chocolates while older girls are with him drinking shots of alcohol.
  • Wren’s mother goes to a college party where everyone is seen drinking

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Christ’s sake
  • idiot
  • hell
  • sucks
  • bitch
  • fuck
  • shit
  • ass
  • crap
  • ass wad

In a nutshell

Fun Size is a teenage comedy drama about a girl whose Halloween plans are foiled when she is landed with her troublesome little brother for the night, and the two find some unexpected Halloween adventure. The themes of a grieving family and a young boy lost and facing possible danger, together with sexual references and coarse language, make it unsuitable for under tens and many parents may not wish their tweens and younger teens to see it.

The main messages from this movie are being true to yourself and sticking by your family.

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

  • looking beyond the superficial
  • loyalty
  • friendship and family

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

  • underage drinking
  • peer pressure
  • protective behaviours for children and children