Not suitable under 8; parental guidance to 10 (scary scenes and themes)
This topic contains:
Children under 8 | Not suitable as children in this age group may find many aspects of the film scary or disturbing, including the deaths of the children's parents and guardians, and children's life-threatening experiences. The dialogue and plot may also be confusing to younger children. |
Children aged 8-10 | Parental guidance due to scary scenes and themes. |
Children aged 11 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: | Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mature themes, Some scenes may frighten young children |
Length: | 108 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
We are warned by a shadowed narrator, Lemony Snicket’s, that the following tale is not a happy one.
After a mysterious fire destroys their home and leaves them orphaned, Violet (an inventor), Klaus (with a photographic memory) and Sunny (who enjoys biting things!) Baudelaire are left with a large inheritance and in the care of their guardian, Count Olaf. Count Olaf, using his skills as an actor, master of disguise and evil genius, plots to secure the inheritance for himself, placing the children in situations of great danger. The children, using their own considerable abilities, courage and cooperation, manage to foil his plans. They are then moved into the care of their kindly Uncle Monty and anxious Aunty Josephine respectively, however after more unfortunate and distressing events (at the hands of a thinly disguised Count Olaf), the children again fall into the clutches of their dastardly guardian. They must use their combined skills one final time to escape from Count Olaf and reveal his true character to the world. In the process they learn what truly makes a family and home.
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 are few scenes of physical violence:
Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.
There are multiple scenes in this movie that would be scary for younger children:
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 scared or disturbed by the scenes described 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.
Some children in this age group may be scared or disturbed by the above-mentioned scenes.
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.
It is unlikely that children over thirteen would be scared by this movie.
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
The take home messages from this film are that:
Values to encourage are that:
The following content could be used by parents to discuss with their children what their own family’s values are, and what the real life consequences can be of some actions and attitudes:
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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