Irish Wish

image for Irish Wish

Short takes

Not suitable under 11; parental guidance to 12 (language and themes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Irish Wish
  • a review of Irish Wish completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 2 April 2024.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 11 Not suitable due to language and themes.
Children aged 11–12 Parental guidance recommended due to language and themes.
Children aged 13 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: Irish Wish
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild themes and coarse language
Length: 93 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Book editor and aspiring writer Maddie Kelly (Lindsay Lohan) has been in love with author Paul Kennedy (Alexander Vlahos) since the pair began working together. Before Maddie can work up the courage to tell him how she feels, he falls in love with her best friend Emma (Elizabeth Tan) and soon the couple are planning their perfect Irish wedding. Putting on a brave front, Maddie travels to Ireland to be a bridesmaid. Here she encounters nature photographer James Thomas (Ed Speleers) and, while they don’t quite hit it off at first, fate has a funny way of coming full circle. Feeling heartbroken and alone, Maddie wishes that she were the one marrying Paul and, magically, an Irish saint transforms her wish into reality. However, being engaged to Paul is not all it’s cracked up to be. When James takes on the role of wedding photographer, he and Maddie are thrown together and, seeing herself through someone else’s eyes, she begins to find the courage to follow her dreams, even when her dreams lead to unexpected destinations.

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.

Magic; Unrequited love; Selfish control.

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:

  • Maddie accidentally punches Paul in the face and then hits him in the crotch.
  • Paul shoves James and gets him in a chokehold. They wrestle on the ground, knocking things over as they push, pull and grab each other.
  • Emma slaps Paul in the face.

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.

  • Nothing further noted.

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

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • Guinness is consumed and mentioned, and a Guinness sign is clearly displayed.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

  • Paul tells Maddie she should sleep in the guest room the night before their wedding, as he doesn’t want to risk anything happening.

Nudity and sexual activity

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

  • Emma and Paul kiss.
  • Maddie catches Paul in the shower and he is shown naked, from a distance, from the front. His genitals are obscured by a towel but his bare chest is prominently featured.
  • Maddie and James kiss passionately.

Use of substances

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

  • Patrons drink in a pub.
  • When Maddie acts strange, a character asks if she has, “been at the whiskey”.
  • Drinks are served at different events, including at a wedding rehearsal dinner.
  • Champagne is served at a wedding and many guests are drinking.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Bastard
  • Swine
  • Crap.

In a nutshell

Irish Wish is a romantic comedy, featuring some spectacular scenery and a slightly diverse cast. While the plot itself is highly predictable, the movie will be best enjoyed by teens and older audiences.

The main messages from this movie are that you should not wish for something that was never yours in the first place; that fate has a way of making things right; and that you should believe in yourself and in your own capabilities, not allowing others to use your talents for their own purposes.

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

  • Compassion
  • Forgiveness
  • Love
  • Friendship
  • Helpfulness.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children the importance of being truthful and compatible with the person you plan to marry, and being sure that you know the character of the individual and the depths of your love – as opposed to conforming into a version of yourself that isn’t truly who you are.