Not Suitable For Children

Not Suitable For Children

Year: 2012

Runtime: 97 mins

Language: English

Director: Peter Templeman

ComedyRomance

A carefree playboy's life takes an unexpected turn when he discovers he only has one month left to father children. Faced with impending infertility, he embarks on a frantic mission to procreate, leading to a series of chaotic and humorous encounters as he tries to fulfill his newfound goal.

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Not Suitable For Children (2012) – Full Plot Summary & Ending Explained

Read the complete plot breakdown of Not Suitable For Children (2012), including all key story events, major twists, and the ending explained in detail. Discover what really happened—and what it all means.

Jonah [Ryan Kwanten] is a carefree, party-loving young man whose night takes a sharp turn when a power outage at one of his gatherings reveals a lump in his testicle. The outage is briefly fixed by a neighbor, but the moment forces a more serious reality into view. At the party, he and Becky Kathryn Beck retreat to his room, and Becky discovers the lump. A visit to the doctor, Dr. McKenzie Lewis Fitz-Gerald, confirms that Jonah has testicular cancer. The doctor explains that the tumor can be removed, but the operation would likely end Jonah’s ability to father children. He also mentions a potential path: sperm banking in case he wants children later, which becomes a crucial thread in the story.

Back home, Jonah confronts the practical fallout with his two closest friends and party partners, Stevie Sarah Snook and Gus Ryan Corr. When Stevie arrives from work, Gus bluntly reveals the cancer, and Jonah wrestles with whether he should still host the upcoming party. He decides to proceed with the plan, not wanting to burden his friends or cancel their growing business of throwing weekly house parties.

A call from the sperm bank arrives, and Jonah must face a harsh reality: the bank informs him that he belongs to a small percentage of men whose sperm cannot be frozen due to biological complications. With this sobering news, Jonah asks about other options and is bluntly questioned, “Well, do you have a girlfriend?” The implication lands hard, and Jonah realizes he must find someone to carry his child. He starts with his ex-girlfriend Ava Bojana Novaković, who is disgusted by the idea of being contacted again. He then turns to Becky, the woman who knows him well but whom Gus has nicknamed “Stalker Becky”; she rejects the notion of a casual arrangement, insisting she never pictured them as a couple. Jonah keeps the cancer secret from the women he speaks to and asks the doctor for more time, ultimately moving the operation three weeks later.

Meanwhile, the party business becomes more than just a side gig. Gus, Stevie, and Jonah realize that hosting parties could become a steady job, a weekly source of income. Their first “paycheck” from a big event totals over $700, a small fortune that cements their resolve to keep the venture going. To solve the child problem, Jonah builds long lists of everyone he has ever dated or known, hoping someone will be willing to carry his child. One-by-one, the women decline. Adoption enters the conversation, but it requires a clean health record, something Jonah does not have due to the cancer. After several dead ends, Stevie proposes an “arrangement” with a woman, and she works to set up a meeting with a lesbian couple at her work—though that initial meeting ends without success. A second possibility at Stevie’s workplace also falls through when the potential partner is not open to a relationship.

The idea of an arrangement begins to take shape when Stevie, who starts to see potential in the arrangement for both of them, writes a contract and reveals a four-day window around Stevie’s ovulation. They book a room at a cheap motel for those days, and the plan unfolds with a mix of practical steps and awkward moments: they buy a syringe to facilitate insemination, but an accident destroys it. They improvise and carry on with natural intercourse, continuing their meetings at the motel while Gus stays oblivious to the evolving relationship between Jonah and Stevie.

On the fifth day, as Stevie is at work, she gets her period. They fight—Stevie confesses she’s having second thoughts about the arrangement, and she’s uncertain about continuing. Stevie is absent at the weekly party that night, leading Gus to call Ava again. Ava arrives, initially upset with Jonah for not telling her about the cancer, but she also offers to carry his child. They go upstairs to his room, have sex, and Jonah pulls out at the last moment—not because he doesn’t want a child, but because he realizes he is in love with Stevie. Jonah hopes to find Stevie to explain, but Stevie’s call pulls him back toward the ongoing fallout.

The party continues, but the tension between old friends and new plans lingers. The next morning, Jonah’s sister arrives to take him and Gus to the hospital for the operation. Stevie shows up to offer moral support, and in a pivotal moment she tells Jonah that she believes he would make a great father—suggesting they pursue sperm donation or adoption together. They share a kiss, and Jonah is wheeled into the operating room. The movie closes on a note of ambiguity and relief as Gus, clueless about what happened between Jonah and Stevie, quietly experiences a mix of confusion and awe. The final line is spoken off-screen by Gus, who mutters under his breath:

What the f***.

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 06:48

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