Story
Parisienne teenager Marinette (Cristina Vee Valenzuela) is clumsy and shy. Seeking refuge in the school library, she bumps into Adrien (Bryce Papenbrook) on whom she develops an immediate crush. Friendly but somewhat aloof, Adrien is still processing the death of his mother and reeling from the constant indifference of his grieving and wealthy father Gabriel Agreste (Keith Silverstein). Gabriel has recently come into possession of a rare jewel that transforms its wearer into an evil version of themself, and releases the powers of darkness and rage and creates chaos wherever it can.
Fleeing a relentless bully, Marinette rushes into the street and instinctively saves the life of an older man who happens to be the guardian of a pair of magical and powerful gems. The man sees in her what she cannot see in herself, that she is Ladybug, half of a superhero team destined to help save Paris from the dark side.
Ladybug soon learns that she is not the only one to come into possession of a precious, transformative stone. Adrien has also been turned into an alter ego called Cat Noir, who develops a lasting crush on Ladybug. Unaware of each other’s true identity, the pair must learn to work together to save Paris and themselves from the misguided grief of Adrien’s father and from the ravages of anger and revenge.
Themes
Bullying; grief and loss of a loved one; a parent emotionally abandoning a child; anger and emotional displacement
Violence
Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie has some violence. For example:
- A bully says to Marinette, ‘I could strangle you with your hair’.
- Adrien’s grieving father embraces chaos and says that he will burn the world and lose himself in the flames.
- Marinette smacks into a waiter and a painter, creates an explosion in science class and knocks over multiple objects.
- Marinette is nearly hit by multiple vehicles as she flees a bully.
- Marinette saves a man when they are nearly hit by both a car and a bus.
- Anger takes over a man who was just turned down by his fiancée and he turns into a monster.
- Two soldiers fight and one stabs the other.
- Ladybug smashes through a window, hits Adrien and they both get tangled and fall to the ground.
- Cat Noir shoves a stick up a gargoyle’s nose.
- Cat Noir is blasted off his perch and flung out of a church.
- Ladybug and Cat Noir are bashed into buildings as they try to control the gargoyle and Ladybug is smashed into numerous bells. Ladybug falls off the gargoyle and crashes onto some train tracks.
- Cat Noir and a gargoyle crash into a train station and Ladybug saves Cat Noir from a train moments before it nearly hits him and just as it crashes into the gargoyle who explodes on impact.
- A jail cell is exploded as criminals are freed from a dungeon.
- A safe crashes through the walls of a bank, police cars are zapped and thrown through the air and a bank is exploded.
- A metal gate is dropped down onto a character’s fingers, crushing them onto a counter.
- An evil character zaps things at a carnival making them attack people. A roller coaster stops in mid-loop with the riders hanging upside down; popcorn bursts into flames; zombies are released; and an explosion knocks Marinette to the ground.
- A character shoots from his finger, controlling objects from afar.
- A character throws cards at others, attempting to cut them.
- A Ferris wheel is released and rolls out of control down the city streets. Its passengers cling to their baskets in terror. One girl falls out but Marinette helps her land safely in a pile of garbage.
- A balloon monster destroys buildings.
- Ladybug helps a rollercoaster as it crashes to the ground and ensures that everyone is safe.
- A mime punches Cat Noir and tries to crush his wrist. Both Ladybug and Cat Noir punch the mime.
- A balloon monster pops on the tip of a pyramid.
- Cat Noir and Ladybug punch criminals and alien-like monsters.
- A monster tries to crush and kill Ladybug.
- Cat Noir pursues the monster up a tower where he is knocked off and falls into the river. In the river he is hit on the head by falling debris.
- Ladybug fishes Cat Noir out of the river but as she is pulling him toward safety, the water turns to lava. She manages to drag him out just in time.
- Adrien’s father, possessed by his anger, lifts Ladybug up and tosses her aside. He is about to the same to Cat Noir when he realises that it is his son.
Sexual references
Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie has some sexual references. For example, Marinette is clearly attracted to Adrien and Cat Noir is very attracted to Ladybug. There are longing looks and awkward moments.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
There’s no substance use in Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie.
Nudity and sexual activity
Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie has some nudity and sexual activity. For example, Cat Noir and Ladybug nearly kiss on a couple of occasions.
Product placement
There’s no product placement in Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie.
Coarse language
Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie has some coarse language. For example, ‘hell’. Name calling includes ‘weird’ and ‘insane’, and Cat Noir repeatedly calls Ladybug a ‘watermelon’.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie is an animated, musical adventure based on the popular TV show. The movie has some stronger themes and more violence than the series and is therefore better suited to older children and tweens.
These are the main messages from Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie:
- Believe in yourself. Know that love is stronger than death.
- Failure is not your enemy – fear is what you must guard against and fight when it tries to control you.
Values in Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie that you could reinforce with your children include teamwork, courage, friendship, helpfulness, and building capacity and potential.
Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the real-life consequences of issues like these:
- The impacts of bullying others.
- Losing yourself in your own grief and failing to recognise or respond to the needs of others.
- Believing that you are not good enough or that you can’t do something.
- Not dealing with emotion and taking your anger out on those around you.