Not suitable under 8; parental guidance to 10 (adult themes)
This topic contains:
Children under 8 | Not suitable due to complex story and adult themes. |
Children aged 8–10 | Parental guidance recommended due to complex story and adult themes (death, afterlife, souls, meaning of life etc.). |
Children over the age of 10 | Ok for this age group. |
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: | Soul |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | None available |
Length: | 106 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Joe Gardener (Voice of Jamie Foxx) is a high school band teacher with fading dreams of becoming a jazz musician. On the same day that he lands a top gig with a famous jazz musician, Joe’s fortunes twist and he tumbles down an open manhole, plunging him into an alternate reality where his soul is climbing on an escalator towards a bright white light; he is dying. In desperation, Joe tries to run back to his body and somehow ends up in a psychedelic and ethereal land called, “The Great Beyond”, which is where new, unborn souls are being prepared for their birth on Earth. Joe has somehow arrived there by accident and is mistakenly assigned as a mentor to one of the unborn souls, soul number 22 (voice of Tina Fey). Joe’s job is to help this little soul find her ‘spark’ so that she can begin her journey towards life on Earth. The catch is that soul number 22 doesn’t want to live and has no desire to find her spark – many mentors have tried to help her and failed. Joe admits to 22 that all he wants to do is find a way back into his body and continue living. This intrigues number 22 as his life seems so sad and ordinary to her, she can’t see why he is so attached to life. She agrees to help him get back to Earth. They begin a topsy turvy adventure between realities which involves a bit of body swapping with a cat, some misadventures on Earth and ultimately, some realisations about what our true purpose in life is.
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.
Music; Jazz; Death; Afterlife; Spiritualism; Purpose of life; Philosophy.
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 mild slapstick violence in this movie, including:
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:
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:
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:
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 of concern.
There are some romantic references in this movie, including:
There is some mild coarse language in this movie, including:
Soul is a warm-hearted and compelling film with delightful visual animation. It is very enjoyable to watch, but lacks a coherent and cohesive storyline, which may leave both adults and children wondering what the film is actually about. Apart from a couple of dramatic and emotional scenes, there is not much in this film that small children would be scared by, however parents should be aware that this film explores quite mature concepts that may confuse some children and require an explanation. It is therefore not suitable for children under 8 and parental guidance is recommended to 10.
The main messages from this movie are that it is important not to take our life for granted, to appreciate the simple pleasures of life and not be caught in the trap of ambition.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:
Tip: Leave out the first A, An or The
Selecting an age will provide a list of movies with content suitable for this age group. Children may also enjoy movies selected via a lower age.
Content is age appropriate for children this age
Some content may not be appropriate for children this age. Parental guidance recommended
Content is not age appropriate for children this age
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