Benny & Joon
Movie • 1993 • Comedy
ReportA mentally ill young woman finds her love in an eccentric man who models himself after Buster Keaton.
This movie contains 17 potentially triggering events.
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Your Triggers
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Unanswered Triggers
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Does someone attempt suicide?
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255)
48 supporters
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Abuse
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Is there domestic violence?
National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233)
50 supporters
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Is someone gaslighted?
26 supporters
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BrianWurtz
Nobody intentionally makes anyone think that they are crazy. Joon's brother does call her crazy. Joon has special needs and is aware of it.
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Addiction
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Animal
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cassandrasaurus
A pet goldfish.
2 comments | Add comment
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Is there a dead animal?
60 supporters
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BrianWurtz
A pet goldfish
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Assault
Is someone restrained?
11 supporters
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bluerosephantom
A character is forcibly removed from a bus
1 comment | Add comment
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Bodily Harm
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Does someone break a bone?
13 supporters
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SpellboundWolf
After Sam swings on a rope outside of Joon's hospital window while she talks with Benny and Dr. Garvey, he falls into the bushes below. There is a cut to Sam with his foot wrapped in white bandages, so it is only implied that it was broken on impact.
1 comment | Add comment
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Does someone fall to their death?
6 supporters
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bluerosephantom
No one falls to their death, but someone does fall from a high distance and injure his leg.
1 comment | Add comment
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Children
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Disability
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Drugs/Alcohol
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Family
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Does a parent die?
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cassandrasaurus
Benny and Joon’s parents are already dead when the film begins. There is a flashback but the actual deaths are not shown.
1 comment | Add comment
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Fear
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Are there clowns?
9 supporters
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Tffr
There is a jack in the box toy that appears in a couple points in the movie as a central focus. The box has clowns painted on it. There are also other objects that are clowns or reminiscent of clowns elsewhere in Benny and Joon’s house, mostly in Joon’s room
1 comment | Add comment
Is there a shower scene?
5 supporters
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SpellboundWolf
After Sam starts living with Benny and Joon, he asks Benny how sick his sister is. Benny is taking a shower during their chat, but nothing explicit is show, only his face & shoulders.
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Gross
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Law Enforcement
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Medical
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Mental Health
Does someone suffer from PTSD?
26 supporters
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Tffr
It’s never specified what is wrong with Joon other than mental illness. We know that her parents died in a tragic accident.
1 comment | Add comment
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Is autism misrepresented?
19 supporters
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TheCassandraComplex
It’s complicated. Both Sam and Joon can be interpreted as autistic, although neither is labeled as such, mostly because of general ignorance about neurodivergence during the time the film was made. They both have a mishmash of symptoms and traits, in typical Hollywood fashion. But overall, I would say the film was ahead of it’s time in its depiction of neurodivergence. And the message about the right to privacy and autonomy for adults with disabilities was unprecedented. Some of it doesn’t hold up to a modern lens but it was an important film to me as an autistic kid in the 90s, and still worth watching for autistic and ND folks as a legacy film.
Not that Benny, Joon’s brother and caregiver, does sometimes treat Joon like she is a child and a burden. This will be the most potentially triggering aspect of the film for autistic viewers. But in the end, he learns that he has been wrong to do so, and one could say that is the point if the film.
Not that Benny, Joon’s brother and caregiver, does sometimes treat Joon like she is a child and a burden. This will be the most potentially triggering aspect of the film for autistic viewers. But in the end, he learns that he has been wrong to do so, and one could say that is the point if the film.
1 comment | Add comment
Is a mentally ill person violent?
17 supporters
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BrianWurtz
Joon never harms anyone nor attacks anyone. However, she has outbursts where she throws things. There's a scene in a bus, with phenomenal acting by the way, where she's having an episode of distress. She's restrained by two officers and she kicks the window and it shatters. Can be very triggering. Joon and her brother Benny do get into a slight physical thing. But they don't harm one another.
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Is there misophonia?
23 supporters
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Tffr
Joon is sensitive to loud noises and peculiar ways of speaking
1 comment | Add comment
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Is there autism specific abuse?
30 supporters
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cassandrasaurus
There are instances where both Sam and Joon are verbally abused and infantilized.
2 comments | Add comment
Does someone die by suicide?
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255)
53 supporters
Add comment
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5
Noxious
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Are there flashing lights or images?
23 supporters
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bluerosephantom
During a flashback scene, police lights can be seen.
1 comment | Add comment
Paranoia
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Pregnancy
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Prejudice
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BrianWurtz
There is no antisemitism.
1 comment | Add comment
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Is there ableist language or behavior?
25 supporters
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cassandrasaurus
Language is used towards/about Sam and Joon that would be considered ableist now.
2 comments | Add comment
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Relationships
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Sex
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Are there incestuous relationships?
National Sexual Assault Hotline 800.656.4673
48 supporters
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Sexism
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Social
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Spoiler
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Vehicular
Does a car crash?
8 supporters
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cassandrasaurus
There is the aftermath of a car crash in a flashback, no bodies or gore are shown.
1 comment | Add comment
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Violence
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Is there blood/gore?
29 supporters
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SpellboundWolf
Sam and Joon rent a low-budget movie 'Prom Queen Mutilator' that Ruthie acted in before becoming a waitress to watch with her and Benny. There is mild blood in the scene we're shown, but it is obviously fake and played for laughs.
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