Dear Evan Hansen | 2021 | PG-13 | – 4.3.5

Why is “Dear Evan Hansen” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “thematic material involving suicide, brief strong language and some suggestive references.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes several kissing scenes between teens, references to love and crushes, a teen boy committing suicide, a teen girl speeding in a car, a teen boy falling from a tree and breaking his arm, several arguments and lying, and at least 1 F-word and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.

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Adapted from the Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical about a high school senior (Ben Platt) suffering from a Social Anxiety disorder and at the same time trying to make sense of another student’s suicide. Also with Julianne Moore, Kaitlyn Dever, Amy Adams, Danny Pino, Amandla Stenberg, Colton Ryan, Nik Dodani, DeMarius Copes and Liz Kate. Directed by Stephen Chbosky. [Running Time: 2:17]

Dear Evan Hansen SEX/NUDITY 4

 – A teen girl visits a boy at his home and asks to see his bedroom, she sits on his bed (she wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage) and tells the boy that she likes him; they talk, hold hands, dance, hug and kiss. A teen boy and a teen girl kiss in several scenes.
► A teen boy sings sexually suggestive song lyrics while rubbing his nipples through his shirt. Teen boys and teen girls dance at a school dance. A teen boy and a teen girl hug. A teen boy kisses a teen girl’s hand.
► A teen boy talks about having “hooked up with a Brazilian dude.” A teen boy runs away stammering when a teen girl introduces herself and tries to shake his hand. A teen boy describes a teen girl wearing a “hot band shirt,” and teases another teen about liking the girl and that he should talk to her. A teen boy talks about a girl that he wishes would notice him. A teen boy describes a letter as a “sex letter.” A teen boy tells another teen boy that a letter gives people the impression that the second boy and another boy were lovers.
► A locker room scene shows teen boys shirtless and wearing either towels around their waist or shorts, revealing bare chests, abdomens and backs. Teen girls wear low-cut and cropped tops that reveal cleavage and bare abdomens in a few scenes. Teen cheerleaders wear short skirts that reveal bare legs to the upper thighs and partial dance bottoms when their skirts flip up. A woman wears a low-cut sweater that reveals cleavage in a few scenes.

Dear Evan Hansen VIOLENCE/GORE 3

 – A teen boy yells at another teen boy, takes a letter from him and shoves him to the floor (we do not see injuries). A teen boy gets very close to another teen boy’s face and yells at him to “stop laughing.” A teen boy climbs a tall tree and we see him fall and land hard on the ground; he rolls over and holds his arm (we see him later with a cast on his arm).
► A teen boy becomes nervous while speaking in front of a full auditorium; he drops his note cards, tips the microphone stand over and he sees students filming him on their phones and laughing. A teen boy sits alone in the school lunchroom in a few scenes.
► A man and a woman tell a teen boy that their teen son committed suicide and that he was found with a letter addressed to him. A teen boy teases another teen boy about his clothes and says they are “school shooter chic.” A teen boy says to another teen boy, “Let’s pretend we have friends.” A teen boy describes another teen boy having thrown a printer at a teacher when he was in the third grade. A teen girl argues with her mother about there being “no good things” to remember about her brother that committed suicide. A teen girl describes a time when her brother punched her door while screaming that he was going to kill her, for no reason. A man describes his son’s life as wasted (the boy committed suicide). People talk about planning a memorial and a fundraiser for a teen boy that committed suicide. A teen boy says that his father left him and his mother when he was 7 years old and a teen girl says that her father died when she was 1. A teen girl sings about having a heavy heart. A woman describes preparing for her son’s 13th birthday year and thinking that he would have so many Bar Mitzvahs to attend, but that he wasn’t invited to any. A mother says of a time in her son’s life that “everything hurt too much.” A woman says that she is playing hooky from work. A woman becomes upset when another man and woman offer her and her son money to pay for college; she storms out of the house and she and her son argue before she drives away. A teen boy yells at his mother about thinking that he “needs to be fixed,” and that he is a “burden” and that he is “the worst thing that ever happened to her.” A teen girl asks a teen boy, “Did you lie to me?” and “Did I lie to all these people?” We hear and read some mean and hurtful messages that people posted on social media about a family and their son that committed suicide. A woman refers to her teenage son and “the first time he tried to kill himself.” People argue about a teenage boy and that he lied to them. A teen girl tells a teen boy to leave her family alone. A woman talks about the day her husband moved out and that her young son worried that she too would move out and leave the child alone.
► A teen boy leans over a toilet in a restroom and we heat him retch and hear splatter (we do not see goo). A teen boy gags over a toilet but does not vomit. A teen boy hides in a bathroom stall, takes a prescription pill and spills others from the vial on the floor while trembling and sweating. A teen boy has a cast on his wrist for most of the movie and we hear that he fell from a tree and broke his arm. A cast saw cuts a cast off a teen boy’s arm (the saw squeals and whirs). A teen girl speeds in her car and slams on the brakes at a stoplight.

Dear Evan Hansen LANGUAGE 5

 – At least 1 F-word, 2 sexual references, 5 scatological terms, 1 anatomical term, 3 mild obscenities, name-calling (weird, anxious, depressed, literal disaster, mess, psycho, stupid, creepy, anonymous, the dead kid’s sister, crazy, dude, bad guy, complicated person, bad person, monster, bat [scatological term deleted], fascist), exclamations (shut-up, shoot, ew, that’s sad, wow, oh honey), 10 religious exclamations (e.g. Oh God, Oh My God, Holy [scatological term deleted]). | profanity glossary |

Dear Evan Hansen SUBSTANCE USE

 – A teen boy takes prescription pills for anxiety and depression in several scenes, a teen girl talks about taking Lexpro and a teen boy lists three drugs that he is prescribed including Zoloft and Ativan, we hear about a teen boy having been in a rehab center, and a teen boy sings song lyrics that refer to him stopping smoking pot. A man and a woman drink wine with a meal, three adults have glasses of wine while talking before a meal.

Dear Evan Hansen DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Suicide, grief, Social Anxiety disorder, depression, estranged families, single parenting, social activism, lying, self-confidence, deforestation, personal reinvention, promises, denial, reinventing yourself, death of a parent, Buddhism, “The Secret,” Pilates.

Dear Evan Hansen MESSAGE

 – Taking one day at a time and dealing with anxiety as it happens can help you get through difficult times.