My Freaky Family

Story

Aneska (voice of Miranda Otto) and Nerlin Flood (Ardal O’Hanlon) make a daring escape from a magical kingdom while Aneska is heavily pregnant. Fleeing King Murkhart (Richard Roxburgh) and his evil henchman Volos (Robert Degas), who will stop at nothing to find them, Aneska and Nerlin hide in the human world. Here, their young daughter Betty is encouraged to play music but is forbidden to practice magic, despite the fact that her siblings are all encouraged to hone their skills in the art. Her brother Winchflat can raise the dead; her brother Staniel has the power of a dog; and her twin sisters Morbid and Silent have their own unusual talents.

When Betty sneaks off to a magical festival that the rest of the family routinely attends, she meets Misha (Charlotte Friels) who pretends to be her friend and secretly trains her to use magic while feeding her false stories about her parents’ past. When Betty’s family is taken by Volos and King Murkhart, her father’s life once again hangs in the balance. It will be up to Betty and her true friends Abi (Erin Choy) and Nat (Semisi Checkham) to find a way to free them all and unite the feuding worlds of magic and music.

Themes

Family dysfunction; dishonesty; magic; war; betrayal

Violence

My Freaky Family has some violence. For example:

Betty’s parents shoot at Volos and his henchmen as they flee across an icy land. The henchmen return fire, lodging darts into a wagon.
Characters are knocked off their snowmobile during a high-speed chase and the snowmobile explodes.
Aneska shoots at Volos.
Nerlin plays his violin and the musical notes wend their way to Volos and wrap around him until he disappears.
A goblin creature shoots at Winchflat and the twins.
The twins shoot a firestorm at the goblin, exploding and knocking over a car.
Staniel attacks a goblin.
There are images of an old war, along with fallen soldiers dead on the ground.
A story is told about how a dragon appears and nearly kills Nerlin and his brother. In order to save their lives, they play music. This leads to the king burning all musical instruments and ordering Nerlin’s execution.
One character kicks another.
Winchflat has to shoot his deepest fears.
One dog eats another.
Betty is pushed off a tall structure.
Betty is told that her parents tried to start a revolution by attempting to overthrow the king.
A dog is electrocuted.
The Flood family blasts magic balls at those who are trying to entrap and capture them.
Misha encourages the execution of Betty’s entire family.
Volos proclaims that, ‘Betty must die.’
A rubber chicken destroys 3 goblin-like creatures.
There’s a battle between music and magic, which only ends when Betty uses magic to send Volos into a dark hole, full of nasty creatures and everlasting torment.

Sexual references

My Freaky Family has some sexual references. For example:

Winchflat tells Betty that she was, ‘born the old-fashioned way’. He then winks at her parents who look embarrassed and uncomfortable.
Abi appears to have a crush on Winchflat.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

There’s no substance use in My Freaky Family.

Nudity and sexual activity

My Freaky Family has some nudity and sexual activity – for example, a character with knuckles for a head and an otherwise normal body is knocking into people while wearing only his underwear.

Product placement

There’s no product placement in My Freaky Family.

Coarse language

My Freaky Family has some mild name-calling including ‘jerk’, ‘weird’, ‘gullible’, ‘knuckle draggers’, ‘uncouth little pox bottle’ and ‘butt’.

Ideas to discuss with your children

My Freaky Family is an animated adventure inspired by the book series The Floods by Colin Thompson. The movie provides an interesting look at unusual family dynamics, and shows the importance of finding your place and figuring out where you belong. Some of the characters and themes might be upsetting for younger viewers and the movie is therefore best suited to viewers over 8 years.

These are the main messages from My Freaky Family:

All families are different.
Every family member should be valued and respected.

Values in My Freaky Family that you could reinforce with your children are trustworthiness, sacrifice, understanding, forgiveness and compassion.

My Freaky Family could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the real-life consequences of issues like these:

Not being honest with others.
Children going off on their own without telling an adult where they’re going.
Holding grudges against others and refusing to find common ground.
Trying to control the decisions and life choices of those around you.