Gilbert Grape is a small-town young man with a lot of responsibility. Chief among his concerns are his mother, who is so overweight that she can't leave the house, and his mentally impaired younger brother, Arnie, who has a knack for finding trouble. Settled into a job at a grocery store and an ongoing affair with local woman Betty Carver, Gilbert finally has his life shaken up by the free-spirited Becky.
This movie contains 31 potentially triggering events.
To address the other comment, obesity itself is not addiction or even necessarily a result of addictive behavior. It CAN be a result of addictive behavior but to assume the character is obese due to food addiction is a completely fatphobic assumption considering the underlying causes are not addressed or even mentioned in the film.
There are no ghosts but there is a brief scene when Arnie is making ghost noises (which is him imitating his dead father) when he is asked to go help in the basement.
Quick Disclaimer: I am a “passing” autistic woman with no comorbid intellectual disability so my perspective isn’t as relevant to this particular movie as those with an ID who are less able to mask. If such a person adds their thoughts here, I encourage you to upvote them over me.
Arnie has an unspecified genetic developemental disability that is likely autism with a comorbid intellectual disability. There’s no doubt that Leo’s performance was convincing and, I think, fairly sensitive and nuanced for the time. However, it’s always potentially triggering whenever a neurotypical actor plays someone neurodivergent. It can be hurtful and feel like mocking despite the all the best intentions of the actor or filmmakers, so I am marking “yes” to this question just to be safe.
In one scene Gilbert slaps, fights and roughly drags Arnie to try and get him to have a bath.
In another scene he leaves him to have a bath alone while he goes out with a girl and he comes back the next day and Arnie is still in the bath shivering as he needed help. This was not portrayed as malicious but is an upsetting image.