Monster Summer

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Short takes

Not suitable under 10; parental guidance to 11 (scary scenes, themes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Monster Summer
  • a review of Monster Summer completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 14 January 2025.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 10 Not suitable due to scary scenes and themes.
Children aged 10–11 Parental guidance recommended due to scary scenes.
Children aged 12 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: Monster Summer
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild fantasy themes and violence
Length: 98 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

In Martha’s Vineyard, 1997, Noah (Mason Thames) and his friends, Sammy (Abby James Witherspoon), Eugene (Julain Lerner) and Ben (Noah Cottrell), are looking forward to a summer of fun. Things start to turn bad, however, when kids start to go missing and then turn up in a zombie-like state. Noah lives with his widowed Mum Abby (Nora Zehetner) who runs a B&B on the island. Missing his father, Noah befriends a crusty retired police officer, Gene (Mel Gibson) and convinces him to look into what’s happening on the island as no-one else seems interested. Noah is convinced there’s a witch who’s causing all the trouble, while Gene thinks it’s a human monster. Together, they work to uncover who the real monster is that’s terrifying their town.

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.

Horror; Fantasy; Missing children; Witches; Supernatural.

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:

  • A boy smashes through a window trying to escape a monster. He falls to the ground and a gun falls out of his bag.
  • Two characters are swimming in the sea when one is dragged under the water by a powerful force. The other one goes to the rescue and he is dragged under and taken away.
  • Noah pushes a woman over on a stage, thinking she is the witch.
  • Gene grabs a man roughly by the hand and a verbal altercation erupts.
  • The final scene is quite intense when the monster/witch approaches Noah with a huge cleaver and chases after him. Noah fights back but is not strong enough. A shooting then occurs, which causes the witch’s heart to flame. The witch then raises Noah up into the air by grabbing his throat, before the witch is shot again. A character goes flying across the room. The witch has to be shot many times, which causes flames to come out of its body. The house then starts to burn down and the fire spreads throughout the neighbourhood.

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.

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:

  • The witch, in particular, is a very scary creature.

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.

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:

  • There are many scary scenes in this movie that would frighten children in this age group, including loud bangs, sudden shocks, cackling laughter, sudden appearances of characters, bright lights that dazzle characters, a blue Chevy that always appears in a creepy way, etc.
  • Many scenes include characters in danger, walking cautiously through dark, foggy woods (the forbidden area); sneaking into peoples’ homes to search them; hiding in dark places, etc.
  • Characters return from being missing with no expression on their faces and red around their eyes.

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.

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

  • Talk of a ‘peeping Tom’ peering through a girl’s window.
  • Talk of kids who disappeared some thirty years earlier and were never found. They think their bodies might be buried in someone’s garden.
  • A character in a black hooded robe tells kids in a threatening voice, that it’s dangerous for them to be out at night. The character cackles menacingly.
  • A teenage girl lures a boy into the forest and then changes into a witch. The boy goes missing.
  • Noah talks about his dad, who he was very close to, and how he died a hero.
  • Gene tells Noah that his son was abducted from his car when he was only 5 years old. He’s been searching for him ever since.
  • A board that has connecting threads are disconnected, apparently by a supernatural force. Similarly, as does a video that starts to play; a clock starts chiming; a typewriter types on its own; and lights start flashing before blowing out.
  • Noah receives a note that reads that the monster will steal children’s souls and then eat their bodies whole.
  • Noah and his friends break into a house and find a discarded doll, small shoes and then a room full of shoes.
  • The final scene is quite scary when a character comes into a room where Noah and his friends are, screaming, and the screen goes black.
  • Noah and his friends are seen tied up in ropes and their mouths gagged.
  • A character transforms into a witch that is a terrifying creature with long black hair, and large teeth and nose.

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 further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • Pepsi
  • Coca Cola.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

  • Mild flirting between a boy and a girl. Mention of ‘having the hots’.
  • A teen girl seductively lures a boy into the woods.

Nudity and sexual activity

  • None noted.

Use of substances

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

  • An adult offers a boy a beer, then says he’s joking.
  • A nurse asks a boy if he’s been smoking weed.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Fart zone
  • Shut up
  • Damned fool
  • What the hell?
  • I’ll be damned
  • Crap
  • Idiot.

In a nutshell

Monster Summer is a fantasy, horror adventure movie that involves kids having to solve a mystery. The film is quite scary and intense in places, with lots of screams and jumps, making it unsuitable for under 10’s. It is, however, an intriguing story and well portrayed, and is more suited for older children and teens as well as adults.

The main messages from this movie are to seek out the truth of a matter, particularly if it will help others, and not to be deterred by those who are uninterested in uncovering truths. Also to look inside a person’s outward appearance to find the real person.

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

  • Courage
  • Bravery
  • Perseverance
  • Teamwork
  • Caring for others
  • Recovering from mistakes.

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

  • Noah didn’t always make the right choices but that didn’t stop him from pursuing the truth. Everyone makes mistakes at times but we can learn and grow from them.