Story
A baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) live next door to a wicked witch (Meryl Streep). As a result of being wronged by the baker’s father years earlier (he stole magic beans from the witch’s garden) the witch has been cursed to look like a crone. In revenge for being wronged, the witch abducted the baker’s infant sister Rapunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy) and placed a ‘blue moon curse’ on the baker causing him to be sterile.
Fortunately, the curse on both the wicked witch and the baker can be lifted if the baker and his wife go into the woods and retrieve for the witch four very specific items. These are a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, a slipper as pure as gold, and hair as yellow as corn. This has to be done before the moon turns blue in three days’ time.
During their three day search of the woods the baker and his wife encounter several characters from fairy tales, all of whom are engaged on their own missions. These include a young farm boy named Jack (Daniel Hutt Lestone) out to sell his cow; Cinderella (Anna Kendrick) running from her Prince Charming (Chris Pine); Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), who forgetting her mother’s advice runs afoul of the Big Bad Wolf (Johnny Depp). Meanwhile, the tower-bound Rapunzel is being wooed by Prince Charming’s equally charming brother (Billy Magnussen).
Into the Woods sees the baker and his wife overcoming difficulties as they seek out each of the items on the witch’s list, with the end of the film leading to unexpected consequences for all of the film’s characters.
Themes
Fairytales; magic and the supernatural
Violence
Into the Woods contains some fantasy action violence, some mild violence against children and some inferred deaths. Examples include:
Sexual references
The film contains some sexual references. Examples include:
- In one scene we hear reference made to a baker and his wife as being childless with the comment made ‘Nothing cooking in that belly’. A further comment is made ‘Your family tree will always be a barren one’.
- A man says to his wife that it will take the two of them to make a child.
- When a man is questioned by a woman about being unfaithful, the woman asking the man ‘If you loved me why did you stray?’The man responds with ‘I was raised to be charming not sincere’.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
Nothing of concern
Nudity and sexual activity
There is some partial nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:
- Women dress in clothing that reveals cleavage.
- A man rips open his shirt to reveal his bare chest.
- A few scenes depict a man kissing a woman on her lips in a romantic manner.
- After a witch enacts a spell on a woman the woman instantly becomes pregnant and in the next instant we see the woman holding a new born baby.
- A man flirts with a married woman, suggesting that ‘Anything can happen in the woods’. He then passionately kisses her several times. The man further suggests ‘Right or wrong doesn’t matter in the woods’, and kisses the woman again. The woman then makes reference to vows and promises. The scene then infers that the man and woman engage in sexual activity.
Product placement
None of concern
Coarse language
The film contains some occasional mild name calling and exclamation.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Into the Woods is a fantasy musical comedy based on the award-winning Broadway musical by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim. It has a star-studded cast and is likely to appeal to teens and adults. Parents of younger children should note that the film does contain some dark material, adult themes, and scenes and characters that may disturb younger children. It is also over two hours long. The film is not recommended for children under 10 with parental guidance recommended for the 10-12 age group.
The main messages from this movie are:
- While risk-taking may be exciting, it is better to be safe.
- Don’t be scared – be prepared.
- In a relationship it takes two people to make changes.
Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:
- Forgiveness: Characters in the film forgive those who did them wrong.
- Acceptance of others faults and idiosyncrasies.