Not recommended under 13; parental guidance strongly recommended 13-15 (Violence; disturbing scenes and themes)
This topic contains:
Children under 13 | Not recommended due to violence, and disturbing scenes and themes |
Children 13-15 | Parental guidance strongly recommended due to violence, and disturbing scenes and themes |
Children 15 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: | Insurgent |
Classification: | M |
Consumer advice lines: | Science fiction themes and violence |
Length: | 119 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Insurgent picks up three days on from where the first film in this series, Divergent, ends. The film is set in an apocalyptic future where survivors are separated into five Factions with each faction processing unique abilities and temperaments: Erudite(intelligent), Amity(peaceful), Dauntless(brave), Candour(honest) and Abnegation (selfless). The five factions live within or around the ruined remains of what was once Chicago. A sixth faction referred to as Factionless exists with its members branded as renegades. Within the Factionless group are individuals referred to as Divergent who possess multiple Faction characteristics and are considered to be danger to society.
The film begins with Divergent renegade Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley) along with Faction-less renegades Four (Theo James), Tris’s brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort) and Peter (Miles Teller) holed up with the peaceful Amity faction. But their peace is short lived because Erudite Faction leader Jeanine Matthews (Kate Winslet) orders the rounding up of all Divergents and troops overrun Amity, forcing Tris, Four, Caleb and Peter to go on the run. We learn that Jeanine has recovered a five-sided box bearing the seal of each Faction on one of its five sides. Jeanine believes that the box contains a hidden message that can restore order to their divided society, but only a very powerful Divergent can open the box by undergoing a series of five SIMS (virtual reality simulations) which to date no Divergent has survived.
After escaping the troops and becoming separated from Caleb and Peter, Tris and Four make their way to the heart of the ruins of Chicago where they meet up with a large band of Factionless renegades lead by Four’s mother Evelyn (Naomi Watts). Evelyn wants Four and Tris to join a rebellion against Jeanine and the Erudite Faction.
However, Jeanine forces Tris to give herself up and submit to the SIMS experiment in a bid to unlock the secrets of the box. This results in unexpected outcomes that change things forever.
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.
Social engineering; totalitarian government; betrayal and revenge; mass murder; death of a parent
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.
The film contains intense action violence and peril throughout, including execution-style killings, some battle violence, violence against children, and some blood and gore. Examples include:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
Children under eight would be disturbed by much of this movie. As well as the violent scenes described above there are many other disturbing scenes, including:
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.
See above
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 are also likely to be disturbed by the violent and disturbing scenes described above.
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.
Younger children in this age group may also be disturbed by some of the violent and disturbing scenes described above.
None of concern
None of concern
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
The film contains occasional coarse language. Examples include:
Insurgent is the second film in the Divergent Series, based on the popular series of books. It is a science fiction thriller targeted at adolescents and adults. The many intensely violent and disturbing scenes make the film unsuitable for children and parental guidance is strongly recommended for younger teens, some of whom may have read and enjoyed the books.
The main messages from this movie are:
Parents may wish to discuss the situation in which the film’s lead character is place in a position where she must kill another person in order to save a life and must then live with her conscience.
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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