Brian Banks

The film is about an allegation of rape, kidnapping, and sodomy; there aren't any graphic descriptions of the sexual charges, but all conversations come from the perspective of an alleged attacker who's later exonerated. In prison, a man is stabbed, and the bloody knife is seen being pulled out of the victim.

Two teens sneak into a secluded hallway to make out; one unzips the other's pants with the intent to have sex. A couple meet and start dating.

Strong language includes "ass," "bitch," "d--k around," "pissed," "s--t," and several uses of "f--k."

A meeting takes place at a bar, where a lighted sign reads "beer" and characters discuss matters while drinking beer.

Parents need to know that the fact-based, faith-infused drama Brian Banks seems like a slam dunk of an inspirational story, but it's actually a bit of a minefield that requires extra critical thinking. Banks was a high school sophomore with a promising football career when he and a female classmate snuck into a hallway to fool around. As he tells it, she wanted to go all the way and he didn't, but she ended up accusing him of rape. He pled no contest and went to jail, but the terms of his parole made his life difficult, so he fought an uphill battle to prove his innocence. His accuser doesn't get to tell her story here, and Banks says he doesn't know why she lied, but the film strongly suggests that the intent was revenge and regret (some of the most oft-repeated rape myths). Several black female characters are depicted stereotypically, as dumb, conniving, gold-digging, promiscuous, vengeful, incompetent, sassy, and, in one case, as an unmarried single mom with multiple children. Additionally, Banks' main attorneys, who are white, are shown to be smarter and savvier than everyone else, including the Latinx district attorney and Asian judge. The film fuels distrust in authority and the legal system, and the good guys frequently utter "'f--k' the system" (other curse words include "s--t," "bitch," and more). California Innocence Project is an admirable organization, and Banks has become an inspirational celebrity figure in real life, but the messages teens take from this film may not all be positive.

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