Since the main character is 12, can my 12-year-old watch Beans?

Generally no. Despite the protagonist's age, the movie contains explicit racial slurs, severe mob violence directed at families, self-harm, and an attempted sexual assault. It is designed for mature audiences aged 15 and up.

How historically accurate is the movie?

Extremely accurate. Director Tracey Deer was herself a 12-year-old Mohawk girl living through the Oka Crisis in 1990. Key traumatic events in the film—including the stone-throwing mob targeting evacuating women and children—are drawn directly from her real life.

Does the movie contain explicit sexual content or nudity?

There is no explicit visual nudity, but there is an intense scene involving peer coercion where an older boy pressures Beans sexually, as well as frank conversations among teenagers about sex and anatomy.

Where can we learn more about the Oka Crisis after watching?

Alanis Obomsawin's landmark 1993 National Film Board documentary Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance is the definitive historical companion piece and provides excellent primary-source context for high schoolers.

Beans – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

Beans

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

movie2021Comedy, Crime

74%

WISE Score

Avg. Tomatometer

A 12-year-old Mohawk girl is forced to grow up fast when the 1990 Oka Crisis turns her Quebec community into an armed war zone.

6.9/10

91%

79%

→

Beans

movie

14, 2021, Comedy, Crime

74%

WISE Score

Avg. Tomatometer

A 12-year-old Mohawk girl is forced to grow up fast when the 1990 Oka Crisis turns her Quebec community into an armed war zone.

6.9

91%

Jump to

Also rated on

6.9/10

91%

View →

Where to Watch

Loading streaming options...

Where-to-watch data byJustWatch

Screenwise Verdict

Do not let the 12-year-old protagonist trick you into putting this on for middle school family movie night. Beans is a raw, unflinching coming-of-age story set against the 1990 Oka Crisis, where Mohawk communities in Quebec stood off against local police and the Canadian army over land rights. Director Tracey Deer drew directly from her own childhood memories, and the result is an extraordinarily moving, often terrifying look at what happens when systemic hatred forces a child to abandon her innocence overnight.

It is essential viewing for older teens studying modern history or civil rights, but the content bar is high. You will watch angry mobs hurl rocks at vehicles filled with weeping children, hear relentless racial slurs, and see a young girl experiment with cutting and tough-guy posturing just to cope with the fear around her. As a history lesson and a character portrait, it hits like a sledgehammer—just make sure your viewer is old enough to handle the blow.

Age Fit

Best for mature high schoolers (15+) and adults. Do not be misled by the 12-year-old protagonist; the film covers severe racial trauma, violence, self-harm, and sexual coercion.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

The film deals directly with racial hatred, mob violence, severe trauma, teenage peer pressure, and self-harm. While rooted in community resilience and family bonds, the emotional landscape is heavy and painful rather than comforting.

Imaginative

Authentic, grounded storytelling that captures the contrast between childhood play and the terrifying reality of an armed standoff.

Safe

Unfiltered depictions of mob violence, racial slurs, peer pressure involving alcohol, cutting/self-harm, and a attempted sexual assault. Definitely unsafe for younger kids expecting a typical tween movie.

Enriching

A vital, rarely dramatized perspective on the 1990 Oka Crisis in Quebec. Exceptional for high schoolers learning about Indigenous history, civil rights, and systemic racism.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

Uncompromising historical lens that puts viewers directly inside the 1990 Oka Crisis through the eyes of an Indigenous family.
Stunning lead performance by Kiawentiio, balancing raw vulnerability with the sudden need to build a armor against ambient hatred.
Essential civil rights context for older teens studying modern Canadian history, land rights, and systemic racism.

⚠

What to Watch For

Terrifying scenes of mob violence against civilians, including angry crowds throwing rocks at cars filled with young children and mothers.
Explicit scenes of self-harm (cutting) as a character copes with severe psychological trauma.
Disturbing sexual pressure, including an attempted sexual assault/coercion scene by an older boy.
Frequent racial slurs and heavy profanity throughout the political standoff.

Conversation Starters

"How does Beans's idea of strength change from trying to look tough for older teens to actually protecting her family?"
"Why do you think the local government and townspeople responded so aggressively to the peaceful protest against expanding a golf course?"
"What lingering impacts did the 78-day standoff leave on the children who lived through it?"

Deep Dive

The Loss of Innocence Under Blockade

Most coming-of-age movies handle the transition from childhood to adolescence through standard milestones: first crushes, changing friendships, navigating high school hallways. Beans shifts those milestones to a military blockade. When the town of Oka, Quebec attempts to expand a municipal golf course over a sacred Mohawk burial ground, 12-year-old Tekehentahkhwa (nicknamed "Beans") finds her quiet summer shattered by barricades, tear gas, and armed standoffs.

Director Tracey Deer, making her narrative feature debut, captures the cognitive dissonance of being a child in a war zone. One moment Beans is obsessing over split ends and trying to fit in with cooler older kids; the next, she is hiding under a blanket while a mob of angry neighbors hurls stones through her family's car windows. The film excels at showing how political trauma filters down into personal behavior: Beans starts deliberately trying to harden herself, practicing a tough-girl scowl in the mirror and engaging in self-harm because being tender feels like a liability when the world hates you.

Why It Works for Older High Schoolers

For high school students who usually consume civil rights history as textbook paragraphs or sanitized documentaries, Beans offers a visceral, human-scale doorway into recent history. The 1990 standoff happened in living memory, yet it remains surprisingly absent from standard curriculum lists outside Canada.

Because the film is rooted entirely in Beans's immediate emotional world rather than high-level political speeches, viewers feel the claustrophobia of being trapped between hostile neighbors and an indifferent state. It pairs exceptionally well with discussions about land sovereignty, media bias during protests, and the long-term psychological footprint of racial violence on kids.

What Parents Ask

Ask Anything

Get a personalized guide on any topic

Related Guides

Movies Celebrating Indigenous Peoples: A Family Viewing Guide

Films that honor Indigenous cultures, stories, and perspectives—what parents should know before pressing play.

Writing about Beans? Put this WISE score on your site