Whale Rider

Movie • 2003 • Drama  

Report
On the east coast of New Zealand, the Whangara people believe their presence there dates back a thousand years or more to a single ancestor, Paikea, who escaped death when his canoe capsized by riding to shore on the back of a whale. From then on, Whangara chiefs, always the first-born, always male, have been considered Paikea's direct descendants. Pai, an 11-year-old girl in a patriarchal New Zealand tribe, believes she is destined to be the new chief. But her grandfather Koro is bound by tradition to pick a male leader. Pai loves Koro more than anyone in the world, but she must fight him and a thousand years of tradition to fulfill her destiny.
This movie contains 10 potentially triggering events.
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Your Triggers
Does the dog die?
470 supporters
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0
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7
Unanswered Triggers
Does a pet die?
173 supporters
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0
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0
0
Silod
Real whales were not used in the filming and underwater footage was digital.
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Is there pedophilia?
135 supporters
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0
Is a minor sexualized?
114 supporters
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0
Is an animal abandoned?
105 supporters
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0
Is a woman brutalized for spectacle?
99 supporters
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0
Is rape mentioned?
94 supporters
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0
Is an animal sad?
94 supporters
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0
Is there genital trauma/mutilation?
92 supporters
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0
Abuse
Is someone stalked?
22 supporters
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6
Is there domestic violence?
85 supporters
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0
No
6
Is someone gaslighted?
33 supporters
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6
Is a child abused?
114 supporters
Yes
3
No
4
0
Silod
Emotional abuse by grandfather.
1 comment | Add comment
Addiction
0
saebou
One character has a bag of weed and a pipe, which implies that he smoked marijuana before the scene. It is a very short scene.
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Is there addiction?
1 supporters
Yes
1
No
5
0
JediMasterTessa
Women are seen smoking, then trying to hide the smell
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Does someone abuse alcohol?
19 supporters
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4
Animal
Does a horse die?
108 supporters
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5
Does an animal die?
(besides a dog, cat or horse)
185 supporters
Yes
7
No
0
1
Anonymous
During a scene involving beached whales, one whale dies
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Are animals abused?
211 supporters
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0
No
6
Yes
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6
Yes
7
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0
0
JediMasterTessa
Dead whale
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Does a cat die?
188 supporters
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0
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6
Does a dragon die?
34 supporters
Yes
0
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6
0
JediMasterTessa
No dragons in the movie
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Are there spiders?
53 supporters
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6
Are there snakes?
17 supporters
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6
Are there bugs?
39 supporters
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3
0
alba04
A large crab is seen outside of the water. If you don't like looking at bugs, you might not like that either.
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Assault
Is someone sexually assaulted?
1 supporters
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0
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6
Bodily Harm
Is there shaving/cutting?
33 supporters
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0
No
5
1
Crow75
There are a few underwater scenes, where you could be worried about that, but no struggling shown
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Is there cannibalism?
37 supporters
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0
No
6
Is someone burned alive?
46 supporters
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0
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6
Is someone buried alive?
32 supporters
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0
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6
Is there amputation?
28 supporters
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6
Does a head get squashed?
58 supporters
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6
Is there a hanging?
32 supporters
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6
Does someone break a bone?
22 supporters
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6
Does someone have a seizure?
10 supporters
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6
Are any teeth damaged?
55 supporters
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6
Is there finger/toe mutilation?
58 supporters
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No
6
Is someone tortured?
93 supporters
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Yes
0
No
6
Does someone fall to their death?
11 supporters
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0
No
6
Is there eye mutilation?
1 supporters
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6
Is there excessive gore?
104 supporters
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0
No
3
Children
Does a kid die?
63 supporters
Yes
7
No
0
1
Anonymous
During a scene where a woman dies giving birth, one of the babies die
2 comments | Add comment
Family
Does a parent die?
23 supporters
Yes
8
No
0
2
Anonymous
At the beginning of the movie, the mother of the protagonist dies during childbirth
1 comment | Add comment
Is a child's toy destroyed?
31 supporters
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0
No
5
Is someone kidnapped?
7 supporters
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0
No
6
Does someone cheat?
22 supporters
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Yes
0
No
5
Fear
Are there ghosts?
8 supporters
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0
No
6
Are there jump scares?
68 supporters
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0
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6
Yes
1
No
2
0
Silod
Female lead is shown in a bath. She is naked, but she's about eight years old and the scene is modest.
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Are there clowns?
15 supporters
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0
No
6
Is someone possessed?
14 supporters
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Yes
0
No
6
Gross
Does someone vomit?
113 supporters
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Yes
0
No
6
Does someone spit?
11 supporters
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Yes
4
No
0
Is there audio gore?
49 supporters
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6
Medical
Is electro-therapy used?
20 supporters
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0
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6
Are needles/syringes used?
32 supporters
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0
No
5
Is there a mental institution scene?
29 supporters
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0
No
6
Yes
7
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0
1
Silod
The film opens with the protagonist's birth. She is also shown in the hospital near the end of the film. Minimal medical equipment is shown.
3 comments | Add comment
Does someone have cancer?
19 supporters
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0
No
6
Mental Health
Does someone self harm?
S.A.F.E. ALTERNATIVES® (1-800-DONTCUT)
77 supporters
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Yes
0
No
6
Is there autism specific abuse?
54 supporters
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Yes
0
No
6
Are there anxiety attacks?
23 supporters
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Yes
0
No
6
Is there body dysmorphia?
28 supporters
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Yes
0
No
6
Is there a claustrophobic scene?
18 supporters
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Yes
0
No
6
Does someone have an eating disorder?
42 supporters
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Yes
0
No
6
Yes
0
No
6
Noxious
Is there shakey cam?
48 supporters
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Yes
3
No
2
Are there flashing lights or images?
48 supporters
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Yes
0
No
6
Pregnancy
Yes
1
No
5
1
Crow75
Not miscarriage, but at the very beginning of the movie, a woman dies while giving birth to twins and one of them dies too.
1 comment | Add comment
Is there childbirth?
27 supporters
Yes
8
No
0
0
Silod
Not graphic. We see the mother's upper body and her straining.
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Are there abortions?
18 supporters
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Yes
0
No
6
Yes
6
No
1
1
Silod
The protagonist's mother dies in childbirth, so not TECHNICALLY, but extremely likely triggering for this category.
1 comment | Add comment
Prejudice
Are there homophobic slurs?
48 supporters
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0
No
7
Yes
0
No
5
Are there usages of the n-word?
35 supporters
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Yes
0
No
7
Yes
0
No
7
Does an LGBT person die?
35 supporters
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Yes
0
No
7
Are there fat jokes?
55 supporters
Yes
4
No
1
1
alba04
Not exactly jokes, but there are comments about one character having gained weight.
3 comments | Add comment
Does the black guy die first?
22 supporters
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Yes
0
No
7
Is there hate speech?
31 supporters
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Yes
0
No
7
Sex
Are there incestuous relationships?
National Sexual Assault Hotline 800.656.4673
93 supporters
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Yes
0
No
7
Is there sexual content?
64 supporters
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Yes
0
No
7
Spoiler
Is Santa (et al) spoiled?
6 supporters
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0
No
6
Does it have a sad ending?
63 supporters
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Yes
0
No
6
Vehicular
Does a car crash?
20 supporters
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0
No
7
Does a plane crash?
16 supporters
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Yes
0
No
7
Is someone hit by a car?
21 supporters
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Yes
0
No
6
Violence
Does someone drown?
24 supporters
Yes
0
No
5
1
Silod
There are a couple of drowning scares, but no one drowns. In one scene, the protagonist dives into the sea and stays down off-camers for so long that another character goes in and begins searching for her, but then she pops back up and is completely fine. At the end of the movie, she rides a whale and it is clear that the community believes she has drowned, but they later receive a call from the hospital and, again, she is fine.
2 comments | Add comment
Is there blood/gore?
57 supporters
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0
No
6
Is there a nuclear explosion?
9 supporters
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Yes
0
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6
Is there gun violence?
1 supporters
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Yes
0
No
5