Stand By Me – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

Stand By Me

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

movie1986

71%

WISE Score

Avg. Tomatometer

Four boys, one summer, a dead body, and the kind of friendship you'll spend the rest of your life trying to find again.

8.1/10

92%

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Stand By Me

movie

R, 1986

71%

WISE Score

Avg. Tomatometer

Four boys, one summer, a dead body, and the kind of friendship you'll spend the rest of your life trying to find again.

8.1

92%

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8.1/10

92%

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Screenwise Verdict

Stand By Me remains one of the best coming-of-age films ever made, and unlike a lot of 80s movies, it hasn't aged into unwatchability. The performances are genuine, the story is moving, and the themes about friendship and loss resonate across generations.

That said, this is NOT a kids' movie despite having 12-year-old protagonists. The constant swearing, smoking, drinking, and mature themes mean you're looking at 13+ minimum, and honestly it plays better for older teens and adults who can appreciate the bittersweet nostalgia.

If your teen is ready for R-rated language and can handle discussions about death, class, and abusive families, this is actually a fantastic film to watch together. It's the rare movie that's both entertaining and genuinely enriching—a literary adaptation that earns its 92% on Rotten Tomatoes and 8.1 on IMDb.

Just don't put it on for your 10-year-old and expect a fun adventure movie. This is the real deal.

Age Fit

This is solidly for teens 13+ and adults. The language alone (constant f-bombs and more) puts it out of reach for younger kids, and the mature themes about death, abuse, and growing up benefit from teenage perspective. That said, it's a rite-of-passage film that many parents remember fondly and want to share with their teens.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

The film captures authentic boyhood friendship and vulnerability, with genuine emotional moments about growing up and facing mortality. However, the kids smoke, drink, swear constantly, and make sexual references throughout—realistic for 1950s working-class boys, but not exactly modeling ideal behavior. The core message about loyalty and cherishing friendships is deeply wholesome, even if the packaging isn't.

Imaginative

Based on a Stephen King novella, the film creates a vivid coming-of-age adventure that captures the imagination of summer freedom and childhood exploration. The framing device of an adult writer reflecting on a formative journey adds layers. It's not wildly inventive in structure, but the storytelling and character work are memorable and have influenced decades of coming-of-age films.

Safe

This is where Stand By Me loses points for younger viewers. Per Common Sense Media, there's pervasive strong language, kids smoking and drinking, sexual references, a graphic story about a pie-eating contest gone wrong, and the central premise involves finding a dead body. A train dodging scene is genuinely tense. It's not gratuitously violent or sexual, but it has enough mature content that a parent needs to know what they're getting into—no surprises here if you're informed, but plenty if you're not.

Enriching

This is a genuinely thoughtful meditation on friendship, mortality, class differences, and the bittersweet nature of growing up. The film asks real questions about who we become versus who our friends were, about loyalty, about facing fear. It's based on literary fiction and shows—the narration and character depth prove you can make an entertaining film that also has something to say. For teens and adults, it's a rich text for discussion.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

One of the most authentic portrayals of boyhood friendship in cinema—funny, vulnerable, and deeply moving
Tackles real themes: mortality, class, growing apart, the friends who shape us even when they don't stay
River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton, and the cast deliver performances that still hold up nearly 40 years later
Based on Stephen King's novella 'The Body'—proof that King writes more than just horror
The kind of film that sticks with you and gets better as you get older and understand what you've lost

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What to Watch For

Pervasive strong language—these kids swear like, well, 12-year-old boys in the 1950s
Kids smoking cigarettes and drinking throughout (it's period-accurate but still jarring)
Sexual references and a truly gross pie-eating contest story that's become infamous
The central quest is to find a dead body, and there's a tense train-dodging scene
Themes about abusive families and class differences that might need context for younger viewers

Conversation Starters

"Who was your 'Gordie' or 'Chris' growing up—that one friend who really got you?"
"The movie shows how the boys are already being sorted into their futures by adults. Do you ever feel like people have expectations about who you'll become?"
"Why do you think Gordie says he never had friends like the ones he had when he was 12?"
"How do you think Chris helped Gordie, and vice versa? What makes a friendship that important?"
"The film is set in 1959 but made in 1986. What feels different about how kids had freedom back then versus now?"

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