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Parents' Guide to

Status Update

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Routine teen comedy has stereotyping, drinking.

Movie PG-13 2018 106 minutes
Status Update Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 14+

Based on 4 parent reviews

vivian w
vivian w Parent of 11, 13 and 17-year-old
April 7, 2022
age 17+
Do not think this is a cute kid movie. In the first part, 2 kids that just met sing a song blatantly about having sex, Bruno Mars can sing it well, but, it doesn’t belong in this still cold scene, locked out of Heaven, guess what heaven is? The Mom cusses when speaking to her son about someone. A girl’s Mother attempts , in a very cringy scene, to molest this seventeen year old boy in what someone thought would be a funny scene, but, for a minute, replace the characters with a seventeen year old girl and a friends father and it’s Attempted rape, not at all funny. So sexist. Please don’t let your kids think this is in any way acceptable behavior. Even my13 year old was surprised at the cardboard representation of the gay friend and his instant change. The only sort of decent character is the “fat” friendless friend, who comes off positive about himself and who he is. But, if you blink, your kid will miss that.
ChrisPimentel
ChrisPimentel Adult
February 5, 2021
age 13+

I think this was a great, feel-good movie. Plot was easy to follow and entertaining. It never felt like it dropped the ball to me. I think many teens will connect to the story and main characters and send them off with a great message at the end of the day.

There was some violence, red solo cups, all felt humorous and intentionally made suitable for younger audiences. Definitely a PG-13 kind of movie imo.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
See all 4 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In STATUS UPDATE, Kyle Moore (Ross Lynch) is forced to move from Huntington Beach to Connecticut -- from a world of surfing to ice hockey -- after his parents separate. He befriends nerdy Lonnie (Harvey Guillen) at school, as well as singer Dani (Olivia Holt), but he misses his dad and manages to run afoul of some bullies. A bearded man at a mysterious mall kiosk sells Kyle a new phone, complete with a special app: Whenever Kyle updates his status, it instantly comes true. He uses it to join the music program so he can be with Dani, but in order to one-up the bullies, he also joins the hockey team and becomes the star player. That attracts the attention of the pretty but manipulative Charlotte (Courtney Eaton). Disaster strikes when the night of the music performance is the same as the big game. And to make matters even worse, Kyle's phone breaks, and the magic app becomes worthless. How will he manage?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (4 ):
Kids say (12 ):

This teen comedy with a "be yourself" message is slickly artificial, grinding painfully through extremely well-worn plot mechanics and essentially failing to follow its own message. With its amped-up performances and overwritten characters (it's kind of like they're all attention-starved puppy dogs), Status Update instantly smacks of an after-school special or other low-budget fare. Moreover, the movie insists on having its characters look and sound like stereotypes: The main character has long, blonde "surfer-dude" hair; the nerdy best friend is overweight; and the gay character is a fashionista. Oh, and non-white characters exist only on the sidelines.

In fact, no one here resembles an actual human being that viewers might know or spend time with. The storyline has been done a million times before, and not much flair or cleverness has gone into updating it for the mobile age. Status Update runs through all the familiar twists with as little effort as possible, including all the old "be careful what you wish for" clichés. For example, when Kyle tries out for the hockey team, his magic post says that he "skated like a pro." So he proceeds to perform a figure-skating program in front of the team. (This is arguably the movie's best joke.) Perhaps the most difficult parts to get through, however, are the musical numbers. Too bad this movie can't be wished away.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the stereotyping in Status Update. Which characters seemed stereotypical to you? Why is that a problem? How does it extend to messages about worth? (For instance, why is one of the young women Kyle gets involved with considered "good," while the other is "bad"?)

  • How much teen drinking is shown? Is it glamorized? Are there consequences? Why does that matter?

  • Do you think Kyle's magic app is meant to represent something bigger? Perhaps media/devices in general? What lessons do his experiences with the app teach us about social media and screen time?

  • In one scene, a teen girl shames another teen girl about food and eating (she asks about her "food baby"). Have you ever seen this kind of shaming behavior in real life? How did you react?

  • How does the movie depict bullies? How are they dealt with? Is it satisfying? Is it responsible? What lessons are learned?

Movie Details

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Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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