Story
Spectre is the fourth James Bond movie starring Daniel Craig. The story follows on from Skyfall and the death of the original M. A message from the original M (Judi Dench) sends Bond on a rogue mission across Europe, Mexico and Africa, during which he discovers the existence of criminal organisation known as SPECTRE.
In London, C (Andrew Scott) is trying to close down the spy program and form a new centre of national security. Bond convinces Q (Ben Whishaw), M (Ralph Fiennes) and Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) to defy orders and help him uncover and eliminate the head of SPECTRE. In his travels, Bond meets Dr Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux) who teaches him the secrets of this criminal organisation.
Themes
Violence
Spectre has frequent bloody and brutal violence, including torture. This violence is sometimes glamourised and shown as a way to solve problems. For example:
Sexual references
Spectre has some sexual references. For example:
- Bond flirts with several women.
- Dr Swann wears a sexually revealing dress. She catches Bond staring at her. He suggests that if she didn’t want him staring she shouldn’t dress like that.
- There is a man in Moneypenny’s bed.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
Spectre shows some use of substances. For example:
- Adults frequently drink in social situations.
- Bond requests his classic ‘shaken not stirred’ martini.
- When a doctor asks Bond how much he drinks, Bond replies ‘too much’.
- Adults drink as a way of dealing with their problems.
Nudity and sexual activity
Spectre has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:
- Bond passionately kisses three women.
- Two scenes show Bond starting to undress a woman. It looks like they’re about to have sex, but this isn’t shown.
- The opening sequence is Bond and a woman naked and kissing while an octopus wraps itself around them. The opening sequence also includes naked women dancing around Bond. The blurry style of the sequence means we don’t see explicit nudity, but it’s obvious that the bodies are nude.
Product placement
The following products are displayed or used in Spectre: Aston Martin, Jaguar, Rolls Royce, Range Rover, Omega watches, Sony and Heineken beer.
Coarse language
Spectre has some coarse language.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Spectre is a fast-paced action movie that continues the James Bond tradition of fast cars and violent thrills.
This movie has violent and disturbing scenes, which include torture and eye-gouging. It also has sexual content. Therefore we don’t recommend the movie for children under 14 years, and we strongly recommend parental guidance for slightly older teenagers.
The main messages from this movie are that loyalty is rewarded and that governments shouldn’t have absolute power. Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include bravery and loyalty.
This movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the real-life consequences of solving problems with violence, as Bond does in the movie.