IF

image for IF

Short takes

Not suitable under 5; parental guidance to 8 (themes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for IF
  • a review of IF completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 15 May 2024.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 5 Not suitable due to themes.
Children aged 5–8 Parental guidance recommended due to themes.
Children aged 9 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: IF
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild themes, some scenes may upset young children
Length: 104 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Bea (Cailey Fleming) had a magic childhood. A childhood filled with tea parties, adoring parents and an imaginary friend who was always there when she needed him. But when her mother dies from cancer, little Bea is so sad and so scared that she shuts herself off from the world so that she will never be hurt and will never have to feel anything again. No matter how hard she tries to shut him out, or pretend that she is all grown up, her father (John Krasinski) won’t allow her to isolate herself. He is always there to bring some silliness back into her life, to keep things from becoming too serious and, despite his own pain, to make sure that Bea remembers how to smile. When her father goes into the hospital for surgery, Bea goes to live with her grandmother and soon discovers that she can see IFs (Imaginary Friends), even when no one else can. Cal (Ryan Reynolds), who lives in an apartment upstairs, is secretly trying to help the IFs who have been outgrown by their owners find new kids who can use them. Initially reluctant, Bea meets an IF called Blossom (voice of Phoebe Waller-Bridge) and soon volunteers her services to help the IFs find new children and a renewed sense of belonging. At a retirement home for Ifs, Bea begins to realise that she has the potential to help in ways she had never imagined and that it’s not about finding them new people but rather helping them find their way back to their original friend. Blue (voice of Steve Carrell), a huge, fluffy, purple creature is the first one to be reconnected with the boy who created him and others soon follow until Bea rushes off to her father’s bedside, believing that his life hangs in the balance. It is Cal to whom she turns for comfort and reassurance, and it is his advice she takes and his suggestion that brings Bea and her father back together again. When her father is better, Bea can no longer see the IFs – it is as though they have all disappeared, and when she returns to Cal’s apartment to find them she begins to realise that nothing is as it seems and she begins to question if any of it was ever real in the first place. It takes a clue from her past to remind her of things she had long since forgotten, a clue that provided the proof she had known in her heart all along.

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.

Sickness; Death: Separation from a parent; Grief and Isolation.

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:

  • Cal shoves an IF away from him and onto the floor.
  • A star blasts through a wall.
  • Cal repeatedly trips over an IF and lands on the ground.
  • An IF grabs Cal and then shoves his body into Cal’s face.
  • Vines grab Cal and pull him through a wall.
  • Cal is nearly burned by a blast of fire from a dragon.
  • Two soldiers fight with swords.
  • Cal is knocked off a balcony into a pool.

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 very young children might be worried seeing Blue coming out of a child’s closet after Cal sneaks into the room to try to get him out. There is a bit of suspense, and his size is very intimidating, though he turns out to be a big softie.

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.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

  • None noted.

Sexual references

  • None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

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

  • Cal tells a banana IF to put some pants on as he is freaking everybody out. The banana then puts both hands between his legs as if he is covering something.

Use of substances

  • None noted.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Damn
  • Hell
  • Crude humour: a gummy bear farts and Cal mentions that he can taste it. He then asks others if they can taste the fart in their eyeballs too.

In a nutshell

IF is an imaginative adventure, seamlessly incorporating CGI into real-life settings. The film has powerful messages about dealing with grief, overcoming feelings of uselessness and getting back to where you belong. It is a family film, suitable for all but the youngest of children.

The main messages from this movie are that sometimes life can be brutal, but the memories of those we love will live forever in our hearts; and, also, that the most important stories we have to tell are the ones we tell ourselves.

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

  • Kindness
  • Empathy
  • Helpfulness
  • Teamwork
  • Compassion.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children the importance of being open with their feelings, working through their issues, and not allowing the difficulties they will encounter to shut them down or derail them from seeing a world full of possibilities and from living life to the fullest.