Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie
• a review of Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 24 August 2023.

Overall comments and recommendations

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.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

Parisienne teenager Marinette (Cristina Vee Valenzuela) is clumsy and shy and, by definition of her peers, a walking disaster area. Seeking refuge in the school library, she bumps into Adrien (Bryce Papenbrook) on whom she develops an immediate crush. Friendly but somewhat aloof, Adrien is still processing the death of his mother and reeling from the constant indifference of his grieving and wealthy father Gabriel Agreste (Keith Silverstein), who has come into possession of a rare jewel that will transform its wearer into an evil version of itself, releasing the powers of darkness and rage and creating chaos wherever it can. Fleeing a relentless bully, Marinette rushes into the street and instinctively saves the life of an older man who happens to be the guardian of a pair of magical and powerful gems. It is at that instant that he sees in her what she cannot see in herself and that she is recognised as Ladybug, half of a superhero team destined to help save Paris from the dark side. Ladybug soon learns that she is not the only one to come into possession of a precious, transformative stone. Adrien has also been turned into an alter ego called Cat Noir, who develops a lasting crush on Ladybug. Unaware of each other’s true identity, the pair must learn to work together to save Paris and themselves from the misguided grief of Adrien’s father and from the ravages of anger and revenge.

Bullying; Grief and the loss of a loved one; A parent emotionally abandoning a child; Anger and emotional displacement.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

• A bully says to Marinette: “I could strangle you with your hair”.
• Adrien’s grieving father embraces chaos and says that he will burn the world and lose himself in the flames.
• Marinette smacks into a waiter and a painter, creates an explosion in science class and knocks over multiple objects.
• Marinette is nearly hit by multiple vehicles as she flees a bully.
• Marinette saves a man when the two of them are nearly hit by both a car and a bus.
• Anger takes over a man who was just turned down by his fiancée and he turns into a monster.
• Two soldiers fight and one stabs the other.
• Ladybug smashes through a window, hits Adrien and they both get tangled and fall to the ground.
• Cat Noir shoves a stick up a gargoyles nose.
• Cat Noir is blasted off his perch and flung out of a church.
• Ladybug and Cat Noir are bashed into buildings as they try to control the gargoyle and Ladybug is smashed into numerous bells. Ladybug falls off the gargoyle and crashes onto some train tracks.
• Cat Noir and a gargoyle crash into a train station and Ladybug saves Cat Noir from a train moments before it nearly hits him and just as it crashes into the gargoyle who explodes on impact.
• A jail cell is exploded as criminals are freed from a dungeon.
• A safe crashes through the walls of a bank, police cars are zapped and thrown through the air and a bank is exploded.
• A metal gate is dropped down onto a character’s fingers, crushing them onto a counter.
• An evil character zaps things at a carnival making them attack people; a roller coaster stops in mid-loop with the riders hanging upside down; popcorn bursts into flames; zombies are released; and an explosion knocks Marinette to the ground.
• A character shoots from his finger, controlling objects from afar.
• A character throws cards at others, attempting to cut them.
• A Ferris wheel is released and rolls out of control down the city streets. Its passengers cling to their baskets in terror. One girl falls out but Marinette helps her land safely in a pile of garbage.
• Buildings are destroyed by a balloon monster.
• Ladybug helps a rollercoaster as it crashes to the ground and ensures that everyone is safe.
• A mime punches Cat Noir and tries to crush his wrist. Both Ladybug and Cat Noir punch the mime.
• A balloon monster is popped on the tip of a pyramid.
• Cat Noir and Ladybug punch criminals and alien-like monsters.
• A monster tries to crush and kill Ladybug.
• Cat Noir pursues the monster up a tower where he is knocked off and falls into the river, where he is hit on the head by falling debris.
• Ladybug fishes Cat Noir out of the river but as she is pulling him toward safety, the water turns to lava. She manages to drag him out just in time.
• Adrien’s father, possessed by his anger, lifts Ladybug up and tosses her aside. He is about to the same to Cat Noir when he realises that it is his son.

Material that may scare or disturb children

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

• Waves of black moths transform ordinary-looking people into angry and evil versions of themselves. Adrien’s father, in particular, becomes very hostile and seems almost possessed. At one point he descends down into a dungeon, steps on a pile of skulls and releases all manner of evil villains.
• There is a creepy, gargoyle, demon-like creature (along with other monsters) that Ladybug and Cat Noir must fight. At one point, he sneaks up from behind and terrifies Ladybug.
• What appears to be a crying baby transforms into an evil, balloon monster.
• As Cat Noir and Ladybug gain the upper hand in the fight to save Paris, a purple storm with black moths releases its fury on Paris. Civilians are running through the streets in terror. A mother and child are being chased, the child falls down and is about to be engulfed but Ladybug quickly saves her before being knocked unconscious.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

• Adrien’s mother who passed away when he was younger is repeatedly mentioned, there are occasional flashbacks including how her loss has affected both father and son. At the end it seems she is not dead but in a coma, however, this is not made explicit. The scenes are not scary, but some are sad and could be potentially upsetting to some children.

• Nothing further noted.

Product placement

• None noted.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• Marinette is clearly attracted to Adrien and Cat Noir is very attracted to Ladybug. There are longing looks and awkward moments.

Nudity and sexual activity

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

• Cat Noir and Ladybug nearly kiss on a couple of occasions.

Use of substances

• None noted.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• Cat Noir repeatedly calls Ladybug a “watermelon” and she calls him insane.
• Hell
• Weird.

In a nutshell

Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie is an animated, musical adventure based on the popular TV show. With some stronger themes and more violence than the series generally contains, this film is better suited to older children and tweens.

The main messages from this movie are to believe in yourself; to know that love is stronger than death; and that failure is not your enemy, rather it is fear that you must guard against and fight when it tries to control you.

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

• Teamwork
• Courage
• Friendship
• Helpfulness
• Building capacity and potential.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

• The impacts of bullying others.
• Losing yourself in your own grief and failing to recognise or respond to the needs of others, specifically children.
• Believing that you are not good enough or that you can’t do something.
• Not dealing with emotion and taking your anger out on those around you.