Under the Boardwalk

image for Under the Boardwalk

Short takes

Not suitable under 5; parental guidance to 7 (mild violence, themes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Under the Boardwalk
  • a review of Under the Boardwalk completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 21 October 2025.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 5 Not suitable due to mild violence and themes.
Children aged 5–7 Parental guidance recommended due to mild violence and themes.
Children aged 8 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: Under the Boardwalk
Classification: G
Consumer advice lines: Very mild violence
Length: 84 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

In Jersey Shore, there lives a tight-knit community of beach hermit crabs. Every summer, their beach is overrun by sea hermit crabs on vacation. This frustrates the beach crabs, who wish to keep the beach to themselves. Among the beach crabs is Armen (voice of Michael Cera), a shy and introverted crab who is reluctant to come out of his shell. But when his friend Bobby (voice of Bobby Cannavale) carries him to the club, a spark is formed with a sea crab named Ramona (voice of Keke Palmer). Their interaction angers another sea crab named Mako (voice of Russell Brand), who attacks Armen on the beach and steals his shell. When Ramona tries to intervene, a large wave hits the shore, decimating the beach crab town and sweeping Armen and Ramona away.

Armen and Ramona end up far from home and must overcome many obstacles to make it back to their home. As they journey back, they begin to open up and a relationship blossoms, despite coming from two different worlds. Meanwhile, back in the beach town, the disappearance of Ramona and Armen deepens the divide between the beach and sea crabs, pushing both sides toward all-out conflict. Will Armen and Ramona make it back in time to stop a war that could tear their communities apart 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.

Family death; War; Racism; Class; Disability; Homelessness.

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:

  • Some beach and sea crabs get into a fight inside a club.
  • Some sea crabs rip Armen from his shell.
  • Some crabs climb and attack a human crab collector.
  • A beach crab is water-boarded by a sea crab. The sea crab then chokes the beach crab, crushing his neck with his claw. The sea crab’s claw is then ripped off his body by another beach crab who comes to his friend’s aid.
  • The beach and sea crabs gear up for war, armed in makeshift armour. The two sides charge at each other and begin attacking each other with their weapons, often made from human garbage like cotton buds.
  • The beach and sea crabs end up at war.

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:

  • A large wave crashes over Armen, knocking him unconscious in the water.
  • The wave causes major flooding and damage to the beach crabs' town.
  • Armen narrowly avoids being crushed by humans walking along the boardwalk.

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:

  • Armen is put in a cage by a human crab collector. Inside, he meets some Mafia crabs who tell him not to squeal, as if he was in prison.
  • Ramona almost dies from dehydration during the journey back to the town.

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

  • None noted.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

  • Armen says he doesn’t want to go to the club with Bobby and watch him hit on girls.
  • Mako says, “I can see your bum”, after ripping Armen from his shell.
  • A mother crab says, “Don’t wait up girls”, to her daughters after she begins dancing with another crab.

Nudity and sexual activity

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

  • A crab shows off and flexes his abs.
  • A crab kisses another on the claw.
  • Two crabs kiss and embrace.

Use of substances

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

  • A crab exclaims, “Mama needs a cocktail!”

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Drop dead
  • “That’s bullshark and you know it”
  • Meathead
  • Idiot
  • Dumb.

In a nutshell

Under the Boardwalk is a Romeo and Juliet-esque animated musical, produced by Paramount Pictures. The film tackles many socio-cultural issues, including class, race, and disability. Due to mild violence and themes, the film is unsuitable for children under 5, and parental guidance is recommended to 7.

The main messages from this movie are about love and connection, despite differences, and showing how relationships can challenge deep-rooted divisions between communities. The movie also encourages coming out of your shell, both literally and emotionally, with personal growth coming when you step outside of your comfort zone.

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

  • Love
  • Friendship
  • Community
  • Courage
  • Empathy
  • Authenticity.

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

  • The film includes a deaf snail and uses the story to challenge misconceptions about disability. Parents may use the film to challenge deficit mindsets towards disability in their children.
  • The film plays into many stereotypes of New Jersey and Italian-Americans, especially through its depiction of Mafia involvement in the community and local businesses. Parents may wish to discuss with children how media representations can reinforce harmful cultural stereotypes and the real-life consequences of such portrayals.