Not suitable under 8; parental guidance to 12 (mild violence, coarse language, lack of interest) Caution: There is also an M rated version of this film released. This review is only of the PG rated version. Please check when viewing.
This topic contains:
Children under 8 | Not suitable due to coarse language, mild violence, and lack of interest. |
Children aged 8–12 | Ok for this age group. However parental guidance is recommended for viewers under 13 due to mild violence, coarse language, and mature themes. |
Children aged 13 and over | Ok for this age group. |
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: | Instant Family |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild themes, coarse language, drug references, and violence. |
Length: | 118 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
When Pete (Mark Wahlberg) and Ellie (Rose Byrne) begin to worry they are too old to start a family, they investigate becoming foster parents. Instead of fostering a young child as they had initially planned, they end up taking home three! The rebellious 15-year-old Lizzie (Isabela Moner), her chronically misbehaving little sister Lita (Julianna Gamiz), and her brother Juan (Gustavo Quiroz), who can’t seem to do anything without hurting himself. Suddenly, Pete and Ellie are thrown headfirst into parenthood, battling both the children and the system, which seems to be working against them. With the support of their dedicated caseworkers, Karen (Octavia Spencer) and Sharon (Tig Notaro), Pete and Ellie discover that there is more to parenting than toys and meals, especially when your three children are fighting battles of their own.
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.
Love; family; family breakdown; abuse; substance abuse; children abandoned.
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:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
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, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:
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.
In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:
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.
The following products are displayed or used in this movie:
There are some sexual references in this movie, including:
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
Instant Family is a heartfelt and funny dramedy that poignantly explores the struggles and successes of fostering and adopting children. All the major performances are strong and funny, and the script is entertaining and moves the story forward at a good pace. Young children may find this film lacks interest given the themes and plot, and parental guidance is recommended for those under 13 due to the mild violence, coarse language, and occasional sexual and substance abuse references. Children over 13 and adults are most likely to enjoy this film.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
Selecting an age will provide a list of movies with content suitable for this age group. Children may also enjoy movies selected via a lower age.
Content is age appropriate for children this age
Some content may not be appropriate for children this age. Parental guidance recommended
Content is not age appropriate for children this age
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ABN: 16 005 214 531