One True Loves

image for One True Loves

Short takes

Not suitable under 13; parental guidance to 14 (sexual references, language, themes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for One True Loves
  • a review of One True Loves completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 11 December 2023.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 13 Not suitable due to sexual references, language and themes.
Children aged 13–14 Parental guidance recommended due to sexual references, language, and themes.
Children aged 15 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: One True Loves
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild themes, sexual references, coarse language
Length: 100 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Emma (Phillipa Soo) is on the verge of marrying her long-time, best friend Sam (Simu Liu), who has been madly in love with her since high school. Then she receives a phone call from her husband Jesse (Luke Bracey) who was believed to have died in a helicopter crash 4 years ago. As it turns out, Jesse was the lone survivor of a crash that claimed the lives of all on board, and he managed to swim to a deserted island and cling to life by hanging on to the hope of being reunited with Emma once again. Torn between two men she loves deeply, Emma must decide if she wants to return to the adventurous life she shared with Jesse; or if she is happy with her current life which, though shaped by tragedy and grief, has led her to Sam and to where she is now – in a place she never wanted to be, working at a job she had always despised. As Sam attempts to come to terms with his feelings, vacillating between being the supportive fiancé and fighting for the woman he loves, Jesse and Emma spend a weekend together at their honeymoon cabin, learning about how much they both have changed and wondering if true love lasts forever.

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.

Death; Identity Crisis; Grief; Survival; Changing yourself to meet someone else’s ideal of who you should be.

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 helicopter crashes into the ocean. There is screaming and dead bodies float on the water.
  • Jesse screams in a powerful rage as he tries repeatedly to escape the island but is always pushed back.

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.

  • Nothing further noted for this age group.

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:

  • Some children may be distressed by the scenes depicting flashbacks of a helicopter crash; people that died; and Jesse struggling to survive alone on an island.

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 further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • The Hunger Games is mentioned.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

  • Sam and some of his students refer to people who are in unique (sexual) relationships, as being part of either a “thruple” or a “quad”.

Nudity and sexual activity

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

  • Emma and Sam kiss passionately on multiple occasions.
  • Emma and Jesse kiss passionately on multiple occasions.
  • Emma tells Sam that she needs him, and they share an intense kiss. He takes off his shirt and carries her (as she straddles his waist) into the other room. It is implied that they made love on the carpet in the living room, although this is not shown.
  • Jesse and Emma are breathing heavily and kissing as he takes off his shirt and then her shirt as they lay together on the sofa. They are shown afterwards in bed together. Again, sex is not shown but is implied.

Use of substances

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

  • Drinks are served at an engagement party.
  • Characters have wine with dinner.
  • Jesse and Emma drink wine at their cabin.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Shit
  • Jerk
  • God damn
  • Hell
  • Crap
  • Asshole
  • Son of a Bitch
  • I’m screwed.

In a nutshell

Based on the novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, One True Loves is a romantic drama with a potentially powerful storyline about the choices we make and how we define who we are. This is not a film for younger viewers but one for older teen and adult audiences, and will likely be most enjoyed by female viewers.

The main messages from this movie are that the extraordinary can be found everywhere; that life is full of unforeseen trajectories; and that the only way to get through the tough times is to continue to move forward, with the knowledge that it is not about who we love more but rather who we are when we are with those that we love.

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

  • Hope
  • Compassion
  • Forgiveness
  • Love
  • Honesty.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children the importance of being true to themselves and understanding that you do not need to change who you are in order to be truly loved, but rather to embrace being truly loved for who you are.