SPY x FAMILY CODE: White

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details of classification and consumer advice lines for SPY x FAMILY CODE: White
• a review of SPY x FAMILY CODE: White completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 3 May 2024.

Overall comments and recommendations

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.

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare or disturb children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie’s message

A synopsis of the story

Anya Forger (voice of Megan Shipman) is a young girl, adopted by her parents Loid (Alex Organ) and Yor (Natalie Van Sistine). Loid (a spy) and Yor (a trained assassin) are unaware of each other’s identities but have come together to make a ‘pretend’ family. Anya, however, is telepathic, so she knows what’s going on in her parents’ minds, and they also have a dog called Bond, who can see into the future.

Loid is told he will be taken off his current mission, Operation Strix, much to his displeasure. Loid thinks that if he helps Anya win a cooking competition at her school by making the directors’ favourite dessert, Meremere, this will put him back in the good books. The family go away together, apparently for a holiday, but in reality, to obtain the secret recipe for the dessert. Things go very awry, however, when Anya accidentally eats a microfilm hidden inside a chocolate. The microfilm contains vital information to disrupt world peace and which is being sought by a nasty Colonel Snidel (John Swasey). Snidel sends out his military force to capture the film by any means possible as it is his mission to end the ceasefire between East and West.

Spies; Adoptive Families; A child in peril.

There is a lot of cartoon stylised violence in this movie, including martial arts style punching and kicking; the use of various weapons – knives, swords, guns, automatic weapons, a man in an armoured suit who has automatic weapons for hands, grenades, guided missiles etc; the main characters are shot at continuously but suffer no harm; there is some blood seen.

Other more threatening examples of violence include:

• Anya learns to shoot rifles at a rifle range.
• Yor yells at Loid, accusing him of cheating. She kicks him out of a carriage at the top of a Ferris wheel.
• Snidel shoots dead one of his men whom he suspects of being a traitor.
• Soldiers capture Anya. Bond attacks the soldiers, who retaliate knocking Bond unconscious.
• Anya screams at Snidel. He orders his men to make sure she defecates to retrieve the film. Anya is seen turning blue, desperately trying to hold it in.
• Snidel says they will just have to cut her stomach open. The men don’t want to ‘cut a kid’s guts’ – they say it will be messy. One of the men holds her down, while the other draws a knife. Fortunately, they are prevented by an explosion.
• Snidel orders his men to fire a guided missile at Loid’s plane from their airborne space ship. This is quite a dramatic sequence of events, during which Loid’s plane crashes into the space ship. This causes a huge explosion and starts a fire, which quickly spreads throughout the aircraft. Yor walks through the fiery interior and is confronted by a huge man/machine who has automatic weapons for arms. He shoots continuously at her, she manages to plunge a knife into his head, but he seems indestructible. She then attacks him with an axe – the man pulls it out. She eventually sets him on fire.
• While the above is happening, Anya is seen tied to a radiator. Snidel asks if she’s, ‘crapped it out yet’. If not, he threatens to slash her himself with a boning knife.
• Snidel sets off poison gas grenades which permeate the room. Those without masks are struggling to breath.

Material that may scare or disturb children

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:

• Electrical impulses come out of Anya’s brain when she’s reading minds.
• Yor’s mouth and eyes start spinning.
• Shadows appear on the wall when Bond sees the future.
• A huge hand appears to come out of a boy’s mouth.
• Snidel and his men are mean and threatening characters.
• The rifle range stall holder is a scary-looking character – a dark shadow of him appears on the wall.

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:

• Anya is trapped inside a train carriage with the bad guys. She screams and bangs on the door.
• Anya runs away from the hotel room but Loid manages to catch her.

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:

• A chef tells the family how he lost everything in the war – his wife and family.
• Anya is worried that her parents are getting a divorce. She tries to arrange a place (on the Ferris wheel) where they can be together.
• Yor thinks she sees Loid kissing another woman. She obviously has feelings for Loid and convinces herself he is cheating. She keeps looking for signs that he is, which her friends tell her, such as: he dresses differently, he starts buying random presents, travels more on business. She cries when she confronts Loid.
• The fact that Snidel and his cronies are holding Anya and trying to retrieve the microfilm by any means, is quite disturbing. While she is turning blue, she sees a guru in her mind, telling her to ‘relax her bum’. In a dreamlike sequence, Anya falls down a huge waterfall.

• Nothing further noted.

Product placement

• None noted.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

• At the start of the movie, a spy takes a woman, who has had too much to drink, to his room. There she puts her leg on his shoulder, slightly revealing her underwear.
• Romance is evident throughout the movie, as, although Loid and Yor are married, it is only for show. She has feelings for him but is insecure about whether they are reciprocated.

Nudity and sexual activity

• None noted.

Use of substances

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

• Cigars and cigarettes are smoked.
• Drinking at various venues, balls, restaurants.
• A female character is asked if she’s, ‘a bit tipsy’.
• Yor drinks about 6 glasses of wine when she thinks Loid is cheating on her. She turns red in the face and collapses. Anya says she’s drunk.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

• Dammit
• What the hell?
• Shit/shitty
• Crap
• Arse.
• Name calling, such as:
  • Geek
  • Stupid
  • Buffoon
  • Brat
  • Idiots.

In a nutshell

SPY x FAMILY CODE: White is an animated Japanese spy movie, based on the shonen manga series. The film is quite intense and violent, which, together with the themes of the movie, make it unsuitable for under 10’s, and parental guidance is strongly recommended for 10 to 11-year-olds. This film is more suited to teens and adults. (Please note, this review is of the English Dubbed version.)

The main messages from this movie are that families are important and should stick together; and the need to protect others who are more vulnerable.

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

• Bravery
• Commitment
• Yor is a strong female character
• Caring for others.

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

• The abilities to read minds and tell the future – parents might like to discuss their views on these matters.