My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3

image for My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3

Short takes

Not suitable under 12; parental guidance to 13 (sexual references and innuendo)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3
  • a review of My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 11 September 2023.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 12 Not suitable due to sexual references and innuendo.
Children aged 12–13 Parental guidance recommended due to sexual references and innuendo.
Children aged 14 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: My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild sexual references
Length: 92 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Following the passing of Toula’s (Nia Vardalos) father, she is determined to fulfil his final wish and bring his personal journal back to Greece to be given to the three best friends who he left behind so long ago. With an invitation to a village reunion, Toula, her husband Ian (John Corbett) and daughter Paris (Elena Kamouris) set off on the adventure of a lifetime. They are joined by Aunt Voula (Andrea Martin), Toula’s brother Nick (Louis Mandylor) and Aristotle (Elias Kacavas), Paris’ would-be-boyfriend. They are greeted at the airport by Victory (Melina Kotselu), a distant cousin, who is also the reunion organiser and village mayor. Upon arrival, the Portokalos family soon realises that the village is largely deserted, save for a few families including a strange woman whose adult son turns out to be more closely related to Toula and Nick than anyone would have imagined. As the date of the reunion draws near and Toula is no closer to finding her father’s former friends than she was when she arrived, she enlists the help of her cousins, Nikki (Gia Carides) and Angelo (Joey Fatone), to track them down. Meanwhile, Paris is dealing with her own challenges regarding relationships, studies, and plans for her future, while Qamar (Stephanie Nur), a Syrian refugee staying with a family in the village, has fallen in love with a Greek man and is facing opposition to her marriage similar to what Toula and Ian once endured. As the date of the wedding approaches and still no one has RSVP’d for the reunion, will the remnants of the small town gather together to celebrate the love of a young couple who share something far more important than culture? Will anyone actually show for the reunion and, more importantly, will Toula ever fulfil her father’s final wish?

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.

The challenges of immigrant families; Death of a loved one; Family pressures and responsibilities; Refugees; Intercultural marriage; Cultural stereotypes.

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 noted.

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.

  • None 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:

  • iPhone
  • Windex
  • Oreos are mentioned but not shown.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

  • A Greek woman grabs Paris by the chest, getting a good feel of her breast and soon thereafter grabs and slaps her bottom. She then proceeds to grab others by the buttocks as well, explaining for all to hear that their lovers will have, “nothing to hold on to”.
  • A couple is told to, “have sex on Easter like everyone else”.
  • A drunk Toula asks Ian if he wants to go make out in the chicken coop.
  • Voula reminds Toula and Ian that they, “used to make out like badgers in a car with a bag full of Oreos”.
  • A character says that she used to make out so much that her face is still chapped.
  • Toula and Nick are told to, “go away and do it, you little badgers”.
  • Voula notes that Victory seems to be non-binary. She attempts to get confirmation and voices her support. Victory doesn’t give much information but her actions speak louder than words. She is seen dancing both as a male and as a female.

Nudity and sexual activity

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

  • Nick takes off his robe while FaceTiming his sister. He appears to be completely naked, though his genitals are not shown.
  • Toula and Ian kiss.
  • Nick showers outside, presumably naked, though only his bare chest is shown.
  • Voula wears an apron (which is repeatedly shown) featuring a woman’s bare breasts on the front.
  • A woman explains how Toula’s father was “with her” before he came to America and that her son is Toula’s half-brother.
  • Numerous naked characters are shown on a beach but props are concealing genitals.
  • Paris goes to a beach and soon notices that absolutely everyone on it is naked. She takes off all her clothes as she gets into the water, where she encounters Voula and looks back to see her naked uncle Nick, standing on the beach holding a bottle in front of his crotch.
  • Paris and another character kiss passionately. They are told, no babies until after they graduate.

Use of substances

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

  • Toula and Voula drink shots while searching for old friends. They later return drunk after having drinks at every place they visited.
  • There are drinks served and consumed during meals, celebrations and at a nightclub.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • I suck
  • Jesus (used as an exclamation)
  • Shut up
  • One possible instance of, “damn”.

In a nutshell

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 is the third film in the series by writer/director Nia Vardalos. The film features much of the original cast and lots of the same sort of culturally-based humour that made the first film so successful. Likely to be most enjoyed by older teens, mature audiences and fans of the previous films.

The main messages from this movie are that time cannot stand still, that things change; and that, no matter what, families stick together.

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

  • Honesty
  • Respect for the wishes of others
  • Cultural understanding and openness.
  • Acceptance of others, especially those who are different.
  • Love
  • Determination
  • Loyalty.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children the importance of open and honest communication as well as the importance of looking beyond a person’s culture or ethnicity, to see the individual for who they are as a person and not as a stereotype.