Not suitable under 9; parental guidance to 11 (violence, themes, language, scary scenes)
This topic contains:
Children under 9 | Not suitable due to violence, themes, language and scary scenes. |
Children aged 9–11 | Parental guidance recommended due to violence, themes and language. |
Children aged 12 and over | 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: | Suzume |
Classification: | PG |
Consumer advice lines: | Mild fantasy themes and coarse language |
Length: | 121 minutes |
This review of the movie contains the following information:
Suzume’s (voice of Nicole Sakura in the English version and voice of Nanoka Hara in Japanese) recurring dream takes place in the ‘Ever After’, a world under a rainbow sky filled with stars, in which the four-year -old version of herself is searching for her mother. Always searching but never finding. After her mother is killed by a Tsunami, her Aunt Tamaki (voice of Jennifer Sun Bell in English and Eri Fukatsu in Japanese) takes her in and raises Suzume as her own daughter. On the way to school one sunny day, Suzume encounters a strange man called Sota (voice of Josh Keaton in English and Hokuto Matsumura in Japanese) who is looking for a random door in an abandoned village. Suzume gives him directions but then decides to see if she can help him herself. While searching the ruins, Suzume finds a mysterious door that leads to another world. She lifts up a strange object, which turns into a cute but devious cat called Daijin (voice of Lena Josephine Merano in English and Ann Yamane in Japanese). Completely freaked out, Suzume runs away leaving the portal open behind her. Upon returning to school, Suzume realises she can see things that others can’t. She notices mysterious smoke in the sky, along with sinister red and black clouds that twist and turn – this turns out to be a creature called a ‘worm’ that causes natural disasters wherever it goes. Instinctively, Suzume knows that these things are coming from the doorway she left open and she races back to the abandoned village to close it. Here she encounters Sota, who is trying to close the door himself. Together, the pair fight back the red smoke and destructive forces trying to escape but their relief at closing the portal doesn’t last for long. Suzume realises that the object which transformed into a cat was actually a keystone, instrumental in keeping the portal closed. What makes matters worse, is that Daijin turns Sota into a child’s chair and then begins running all over Japan opening other portals. Suzume and Sota (in his chair form) follow along, trying to reach the doors before the evil forces are released and numerous human lives are lost.
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.
A child separated from her mother; Death of a parent; Tsunamis, Earthquakes; Mystical creatures causing rampant destruction; Portals to other worlds.
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:
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.
The following products are displayed or used in this movie:
There are some sexual references in this movie, including:
There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
There is some use of substances in this movie, including:
There is some coarse language in this movie, including:
Suzume is a fantasy, adventure anime from the acclaimed writer-director Makoto Shinkai. The film is likely to appeal to fans of the genre and anyone interested in Japanese culture, and is best suited to tween and older audiences.
The main messages from this movie are that life can be very hard but that things won’t always be so tough; that nights can seem endless but mornings will come; and that ultimately, love is the most powerful force in the universe, something worth living and fighting for.
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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