Mamma Mia! Here we go again

image for Mamma Mia! Here we go again

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Parental guidance recommended under 13 due to sexual references and adult themes.

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Mamma Mia! Here we go again
  • a review of Mamma Mia! Here we go again completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 23 July 2018.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 13 Parental guidance recommended due to sexual references and adult 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: Mamma Mia! Here we go again
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild sexual references
Length: 114 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Mamma Mia! Here we go again is the sequel to the 2008 hit musical movie Mamma Mia! Once again, we are back on the picturesque and idyllic Greek island of Kalokairi where Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is mourning the sudden and unexpected death of her mother Donna (Meryl Streep).

To honour her mother’s lifelong dream of creating a hotel in the rustic stone villa that sits above the village, Sophie has finally completed the renovations and now the Hotel ‘Bella Donna” is ready for a grand opening party. The film intertwines this modern-day storyline with nostalgic flashbacks that tell the history of a younger Donna (Lily James), her arrival on the island in the 1970’s and her brief but very passionate romantic encounters with the men that we come to know as Sophie’s 'three fathers'.

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.

Motherhood; friendship; romance; sexuality; ageing

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.

None of concern

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.

There are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

  • There is a ferocious storm and scenes of violent weather, however no one is harmed.
  • Donna finds a frightened horse down in the stable below the house and must try to calm it down, but the horse is wild and knocks a beam from the roof which causes the roof to cave in.

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.

Younger children in this age group may also find the above scenes scary

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

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.

Nothing of concern

Thirteen and overinfo

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.

Nothing of concern

Product placement

Nothing of concern

Sexual references

There are frequent sexual references and innuendo in this movie, including the following examples:

  • When Tanya sees Fernando for the first time, she looks seductively at him and whispers to her friend “Be still my beating vagina” and then “Have him washed and brought to my tent”.
  • Bill, one of Donna’s lovers, is trying to lure her into his bed. She says, “We only just met!” her replies, “Oh! And you’re not that kind of girl?” to which she replies, “Absolutely not.......usually”.
  • Flirtation and many passionate, romantic kisses and embraces .
  • Tanya says to a good-looking man “I just want to be upfront about how much I am visually enjoying you”.
  • One of young Donna’s lovers talks about how he wants to spend the night with her, because it is his ‘first time’ and he wants her to be the one.
  • A Greek woman describes a man as “having so many notches on his bed post that his bed fell down”.

Nudity and sexual activity

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

  • The young Donna has passionate love affairs with three different men. Although there are no explicit sex scenes, there are several scenes of semi naked men lying in bed.
  • Much of the choreographed dancing includes seductive and sexy dance moves, often with the dancers wearing tight, low cut, or revealing clothing.

Use of substances

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

  • many scenes of adults drinking alcohol.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • “crap”; “son of a bitch”; “Jesus Christ”

In a nutshell

Mamma Mia! Here we go again is a fun and light-hearted musical that celebrates the music of ABBA against a backdrop of beautiful Mediterranean scenery and rather cheesy nostalgic romance. The characters are all warm-hearted, empathetic, and likeable, and the singing and dancing feel fresh and energetic. There is a lot of sexual innuendo which may concern some parents, so parental guidance is recommended for children under 13. There are also some scenes that may be scary for under sevens.

The main messages from this movie are:

  • appreciation and celebration of the relationships we have with friends and family
  • the shared bond of motherhood
  • sexuality as a positive force

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

  • making responsible decisions about sexual relationships, honesty and fidelity
  • empathy and understanding between mothers and daughters
  • the joy of singing, making music and dancing with others