Minamata

While the film, which is mostly set in Japan, features a White American in the middle of a Japanese protest movement, Eugene is written in a way that doesn't make him a "White savior." Instead, it's clear that he's an outsider who's been brought into a situation because of his international fame; the Japanese protesters want him there so he can take their case to Life magazine, adding more force to their movement. Meanwhile, the protesters are written as capable, fully-realized characters who are fighting for their lives against the company that's poisoned their water and made so many of them sick. Protest leader Mitsuo is charismatic in his righteous anger, providing a staunch counterbalance to the film and keeping it from being just a story about Eugene. And the film does a notable job of compassionately showcasing disabled people as three-dimensional characters, rather than "inspiration porn." But Aileen's characterization falls a little bit into female-stereotype territory, as she's largely there as support for the leading man. (The real Aileen Smith told The Guardian that she was already married to Eugene when they helped the protesters and that she was disappointed in the film for lessening her role in the protest.)

Dream sequences with war. Dead body (mercury poisoning) shown. Police brutality and violence at a protest. A character cuts his wrist in protest and survives.

Non-sexual nudity: photo with a mother helping her disabled daughter take a bath.

Language includes swearing, ableist words, and exclamatory uses of God: "fruit loops," "f--k," "goddamn," "d--k," "hell," "dumba--," "s--t," "son of a bitch," "Christ," "Jesus."

Eugene drinks and takes drugs in several scenes; in others, he mentions his substance use.