Spider-Man: Far from Home

image for Spider-Man: Far from Home

Short takes

Not suitable under 8, not recommended 8-11, parental guidance to 12-13 (action violence, supernatural themes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Spider-Man: Far from Home
  • a review of Spider-Man: Far from Home completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 4 July 2019.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 8 Not suitable due to supernatural themes, action violence, and language
Children aged 8-11 Not recommended due to supernatural themes, action violence, and language
Children aged 12–13 Parental guidance recommended
Children over the age of 13 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: Spider-Man: Far from Home
Classification: M
Consumer advice lines: Action violence
Length: 129 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and his friends MJ (Zendaya), Ned (Jacob Batalon), Betty (Angourie Rice), and their classmates go on a class trip to Europe.  Meanwhile, Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulder) begin investigating strange natural disasters that appear to be otherworldly.  When the kids’ school trip is invaded by giant monsters, Peter is forced to team up with Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), a mysterious new superhero who claims he is from another version of Earth.  As Peter tries to save the world again and work out how to tell MJ how he feels about her, Peter begins to realise that Mysterio may not be who he seems, and that he and his friends may be in more danger than he thinks.

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.

Loss; Grief; Death; Natural disasters; Love

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 young man is punched in the pelvic region
  • A young man is shot in the neck with a tranquiliser gun
  • A young man is accidentally knocked out by another young man
  • Superheroes battle monsters with powers and in hand-to-hand combat
  • A young man is hit by a speeding train and survives but is hurt
  • Action movie fight sequences

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:

  • There are a number of monsters in this film made of water, fire, earth, and wind – They are very large and may frighten young children
  • During an illusionary sequence, a zombified Iron Man crawls from a grave and attacks Peter Parker – This is grotesque and is likely to frighten children

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 frequent references to the death of Iron Man, and the grief that Peter Parker is suffering – This may distress this age group

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:

  • Peter Parker is wrongfully and publicly accused of murdering people and trying to destroy a city (this is not resolved) – This may distress this age group

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.

  • There are a couple of references to the Black Dahlia murders, which are very gruesome and distressing – Younger children will likely not understand this reference, but some older children may

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • Audi
  • Smartphones
  • Sony camera
  • Nikon camera
  • Sony headphones
  • United airlines
  • Doritos

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

  • Teenage characters kiss briefly
  • Peter is suggested to have watched a porn film
  • A joke sequence suggests Peter was about to be intimate with a European model

Nudity and sexual activity

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

  • Nothing of concern

Use of substances

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

  • Drinking in bars – Generally of either spirits or beer

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Shit (bullshit)
  • Ass
  • Bitch
  • Dickwad

In a nutshell

Spider-Man: Far from Home is the second film in the recent reboot of the Spider-Man franchise.  This film is both consistently funny and touching, with strong performances from its central cast.  This film will likely be enjoyed by older children and adults.

The main messages from this movie include – Balancing your own needs with the needs of others, even if it feels like you are letting others down; Communicating with those around you when you need help or support, particularly when you are dealing with loss or hardship.

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

  • Friendship
  • Loyalty
  • Courageousness
  • Perseverance

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

  • Revenge porn – A young male character tries to blackmail another character with an intimate photo