It’s been nearly 30 years since The Castle was released, and it’s still an Australian classic to this day. But one Aussie who recently rewatched the iconic film noticed something stark about the plot that doesn’t translate in 2025.
NSW south coast resident Sally noted that the Kerrigan family wasn’t depicted as wealthy or even particularly middle-class. And yet, the “simple folk” had a house with a pool room, a holiday shack, and multiple cars.
“Compare that to today,” she said on social media. “That’s rare. I just find amazing that in the last 30 years so much has changed and so much used to be considered normal or common is now aspirational.”
Her video was met with hundreds of comments, many of which agreed with her.
Sarah Megginson, a personal finance expert at Finder, told Yahoo Lifestyle that it’s understandable why people would be “really disheartened” to see a movie from less than 30 years ago and notice how different things are today.
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She revealed that since around 1984, house prices have increased by 15 times.
However, wages have only increased by 5.5 times.
So, unless you’re getting a massive inheritance or winning the lottery, it has become exceedingly difficult to buy your slice of the Australian dream as the amount needed keeps going up.
However, the money expert pointed out that in The Castle, the Kerrigans were living on “more of the rustic side” of the property scene and also a fair distance away from Melbourne’s CBD.
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While they owned their own home, it was “very modest and under a flight path”.
“I think there’s a bit of context there for that direct comparison, but in general, the message of what [Sally] is sharing is pretty spot on,” she told Yahoo Lifestyle.
The Castle is centred on the Kerrigan family, whose beloved home in Melbourne’s north is threatened with compulsory acquisition as the nearby airport seeks to expand.
But the family fights the government to keep their “castle”, and they ultimately prevail.
They get to keep their abode and prove that the little guy can win.
Aussies weigh up whether The Castle stacks up today
Many echoed Sally’s thoughts on the 1997 film and couldn’t believe how different life is today compared to back then.
“You’re not wrong but everything was the cheapest of cheap,” wrote one person.
“I think about this all the time!” added another.
But others believed that the Kerrigan family was very different to a modern-day household.
“They also didn’t eat out. Didn’t buy a daily coffee. Their clothes would have been hand-me-downs or second-hand,” said one TikTok user.
“Most people wouldn’t be happy with a very small house next to a airport with 10-year-old cars with lead in the soil,” added another.
“Back then people didn’t pay $10 a day for a coffee, eat out five times a week, have 10 different streaming services, and two devices per family member. If you don’t have those things now you could probably afford a holiday house,” wrote a third.
‘Structural’ shift in the way Aussies spend their money
Sarah believed it’s hard to truly compare the ’90s to now because so much has changed.
“There is definitely a difference in how we’re living today, what affordability is like, not just for housing, but for almost every area of our household budget,” she told Yahoo Lifestyle.
“There has been a real structural shift in society in terms of how we spend, what our priorities are, what our values are, as well as the financial forces that are in play to actually make property prices this expensive.”
But she added that it’s unfair to point fingers at any specific generation and say they can’t manage their money properly.
“There can be a misconception that younger people are over-consumers or they spend too frivolously, and that Baby Boomers were better at saving,” she said.
“If you put any of us in the current economy and the really frictionless way that we spend money, then I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t find that tempting.”
Money expert Sarah Megginson said a lot has changed since The Castle premiered in 1997. Picture: Supplied
The frictionless spending she referred to is how you can order something to your door in seconds without getting up from the couch.
“You’re not exchanging cash, it’s coming out of some account somewhere, so you don’t feel the pain of handing over money,” Megginson said.
Back in the Kerrigan’s day, if you wanted a takeaway, you would have been forced to ring the restaurant and then drive to pick it up. It was the same for grocery shopping or picking out a new clothing item.
But now, you tap a few buttons and it’s practically in your hands without any friction.
In addition to how groceries, rent, mortgages, utilities, and practically every other household expense has gone up, social media also plays a role in causing people to spend more of their money as they want to keep up with the Joneses.
We’re also constantly bombarded by adverts for new streaming services, electronic devices, health trends, and holiday destinations, which can push us to fork out even more cash.
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Sarah said this all adds up and can make it seemingly impossible to have hopes of owning one home, let alone a holiday shack and a few cars.
She explained that young people today have been forced to “evolve their dreams and their wants”, because things like home ownership “just seem so unachievable”.
“But I really encourage people to look at what the options are if home ownership is a goal, because even though it is really expensive, and you might think it’s unaffordable, there might be a path to home ownership for you with all of the different schemes, grants, and incentives available,” she said.
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